^^^'•m^ 


iitll: 


i-   ^ 


^^^^^^'^^zju^:^:!^ 


BV  1518  ,R2  G73  1880 
Gregory,  Alfred. 
Robert  Raikes:  journalist 
and  philanthropist 


/^ 


[ 


I 


ROBERT    R    jIKES 


A  HISTORY  OF   THE   ORIGIN   OF  SUNDAY 
SCHOOLS. 

By  ALFRED   GREGORY. 


RAIKES'    H0O8K    IN    OI,0OCS3T 


SIXTH  THOUSAND. 

HODDER   AND   STOUGHTON 

27,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
MDCCCLXXX. 


Hazell.  Wauou,  aud  Viney,  Friuurs,  Loudon  aud  Aylc.bury. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BIRTHPLACE  AND  PARENTAGE. 

"A  preaching  friar  settles  himself  in  every  village,  and 
builds  a  pulpit,  which  he  calls  Newspaper." — Carlyle. 

GLOUCESTER,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  was  not  the  handsome, 
well-kept  city  it  is  now.  It  was  then  unpaved,  un- 
drained,  unsavoury,  and,  by  necessary  consequence, 
unhealthy  and  incommodious.  The  houses  were 
for  the  most  part  low,  irregular,  and  projecting 
Instead  of  the  numerous  ships  which  now  crowd 
the  docks,  an  occasional  vessel  from  Portugal  or 
France  deposited  a  few  casks  at  the  quay,  and  a 
wherry  to  Worcester  went  twice  a  week.  As  to 
locomotion,  even  the  "Flying  Coaches"  which 
subsequently  carried  adventurous  passengers  to 
London  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  days,  had 
not  then  commenced  their  journeys.  Nor  was  the 
moral  or  social  aspect  of  affairs  more  pleasing. 
The  streets  swarmed  with  rogues  and  vagabonds, 


Robert  Raikes. 


who  were  flogged  through  the  city  weekly  by 
scores.  Religion  was  at  a  low  ebb.  The  Church 
seemed  asleep.  John  and  Charles  Wesley  had 
not  begun  their  evangelizing  labours,  and  White- 
field  was  known  in  his  native  city  of  Gloucester 
only  as  a  dirty  little  rascal  who  robbed  his  mother's 
till  and  tried  to  quiet  his  conscience  by  giving 
part  of  the  plunder  to  the  poor.  Wholesale  exe- 
cutions for  comparatively  venial  offences  were  the 
panacea  of  the  Government  for  all  crimes ;  and 
these  same  executions,  with  bull-baiting  and  cock- 
fighting,  formed  the  favourite  entertainments  of  the 
mob.  Sunday-schools  there  were  none,  and  poor 
schools  were  only  just  being  thought  of  All  over 
the  kingdom  popular  ignorance  and  prevalent  vice 
went  hand  in  hand.  Gloucester,  with  all  its  bad- 
ness, was  no  whit  worse  than  the  rest  of  the 
country.  "  Darkness  covered  the  earth,  and  gross 
darkness  the  people." 

Yet  as  early  as  1722  a  gleam  of  light  began  to 
show  itself  in  Gloucester.  On  the  9th  April  in  that 
year  appeared  the  first  number  of  the  Gloucester 
/oumal,  ninth  in  order  of  time  among  provincial 
papers,  and  in  size  scarcely  larger  than  a  sheet  of 
foolscap.  Its  founder  was  a  printer,  named  Robert 
Raikes,  the  son  of  a  clergyman  of  the  same  name 


Birthplace  and  Parentage.  5 

who  lived  at  Holderness,  in  Yorkshire.  "Raikes 
the  printer,"  as  he  was  called,  was  a  man  of  great 
enterprise  and  perseverance,  and  he  managed  his 
literary  venture  so  successfully  that  it  soon  obtained 
an  extensive  circulation  throughout  Gloucestershire 
and  the  surrounding  counties.  A  curious  testi- 
mony to  this  fact  is  recorded  in  one  of  the  early 
numbers,  as  follows  : — 

"A  demure  old  farmer  applied  to  the  printer  of 
the  Gloucester  Joiirtial^  and  with  great  gravity  of  face 
told  him  that  he  feared  the  mealmen  and  bakers 
seldom  read  their  Bibles,  but  as  he  knew  they  always 
read  the  newspapers,  he  desired  a  comer  of  hirpapei 
for  the  follo^ving  texts  :  *  Just  balances,  just  weights, 
a  just  ephah,  and  a  just  hin  shall  ye  have '  (Lev. 
xix.  36) ;  '  Divers  weights,  and  divers  measures, 
both  of  them  are  alike  abomination  to  the  Lord* 
(Prov.  XX.  10)." 

Great  as  was  its  ultimate  success,  Raikes'  paper 
was  not  established  ^^ithout  a  hard  struggle.  Be- 
sides being,  like  every  other  contemporary  pro- 
duction of  the  press,  heavily  handicapped  with 
Parliamentary  imposts — such  as  the  duty  on  paper 
and  the  tax  on  advertisements — the  Gloucester 
[ournal  experienced  a  special  difficulty  in  the  shape 
of  an  encounter  with  the  House  of  Commons.     The 


Robert  Raikes. 


story  ot  tnat  encounter  \vill  be  found  duly  recorded 
in  the  journals  of  the  House  for  1728  and  1729. 
It  seems  that  early  in  1728  Mr.  Raikes  was  bold 
enough  to  publish  in  his  newspaper  a  report  of 
certain  proceedings  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
supplied  to  him  by  Mr.  Cave,  of  London,  the 
celebrated  founder  of  the  Gentleman^ s  Magazine. 
As  Parliamentary  reporting  was  at  that  time  strictly 
forbidden,  Raikes'  temerity  got  him  into  trouble. 
The  publication  in  the  Gloucester  Journal  was  de- 
clared to  be  "  a  breach  of  privilege,"  and  Raikes 
himself  was  ordered  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  the 
House  for  punishment.  The  record  of  his  ap- 
pearance on  April  8th,  1728,  reads  thus:  "Robert 
Raikes,  in  custody  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  attend- 
ing this  House,  was  (according  to  Order)  brought 
to  the  Bar ;  where  he,  upon  his  knees,  received  a 
Reprimand  from  Mr.  Speaker,  and  was  ordered  to 
be  discharged  out  of  Custody,  paying  his  fees." 
This  warning  did  not  prevent  him  offending  again 
in  a  similar  way  the  following  year,  and  again  he 
was  ordered  to  appear  at  the  bar.  Instead  of 
going  he  sent  a  petition,  setting  forth  that  he  was 
ill  of  a  fever  and  unable  to  travel,  and  pleading 
that  the  report  complained  of  had  been  published 
without  his  knowledge,  and  contrary  to  his  express 


Birthplace  and  Parentage. 


orders  given  to  his  servant  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session  not  to  print  any  of  the  votes 
or  resolutions  of  the  House.  Taking  these  cir- 
cumstances into  their  merciful  consideration,  the 
House  "  discharged  Mr.  Raikes  from  attendance ; " 
but,  as  a  proof  of  their  determination  to  keep 
their  proceedings  secret,  they  passed  a  resolution 
declaring  it  to  be  "  a  breach  of  the  privilege  of 
this  House  for  any  person  to  presume  to  give, 
in  written  or  printed  newspapers,  any  account  or 
minutes  of  the  debates  or  other  proceedings  of  this 
House,  or  of  any  committee  thereof;"  and  offend- 
ers were  warned  that  they  would  be  proceeded 
against  with  the  utmost  severity.  It  was  not  till 
many  years  after  this  that  the  House  of  Commons 
abandoned  its  false  stand  against  the  Press,  and 
allowed  notes  of  its  proceedings  to  be  taken  for 
publication.  Meanwhile,  Raikes'  two  summonses 
to  London  were  so  misrepresented  in  his  own 
city,  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  protest  that, 
"  Since  the  printer  hereof  hath  been  under  the 
displeasure  of  the  House,  it  hath  been  industriously 
and  maliciously  insinuated  that  it  is  for  printing 
against  the  Government,  which  is  a  false  and  scan- 
dalous aspersion." 

The  columns  of  his  paper  bear  abundant  proof 


8  Robert  Raikes. 


that  "Raikes  the  printer"  was  a  philanthropist 
as  well  as  a  man  of  business.  Whenever  there 
was  a  good  cause  to  be  advocated,  or  a  bad 
one  to  be  decried,  if  the  Gloucester  Journal  took 
part  in  the  combat,  it  was  always  on  the  right 
side.  Its  columns  were  ever  open  to  intelligence 
from  all  quarters,  and  to  correspondence  from  all 
classes.  George  Whitefield,  grown  out  of  his 
boyish  pranks  and  preparing  for  the  Church, 
dropped  some  of  his  earliest  effusions  into  Mr. 
Raikes'  letter-box.  Long  before  the  labours  of 
John  Howard,  attention  was  called  to  the  deplor- 
able condition  of  Gloucester  gaol  in  Mr.  Raikes' 
newspaper.  Charitable  objects  were  often  aided 
by  the  publication  of  their  claims  and  the  gra- 
tuitous advertisement  of  their  subscription  lists. 
In  short,  among  the  provincial  Press  of  that  date, 
the  Glo2icester  Joiirnal  was  commendably  foremost 
in  many  good  works. 

It  was  to  this  property  that  Robert  Raikes,  "  the 
father  of  Sunday-schools,"  was  born  heir.  In  a 
house  in  Palace-yard,  just  beneath  the  shadow  of 
Gloucester's  grand  cathedral,  he  first  saw  the  light 
of  day,  on  September  14th,  1735.  His  birthplace, 
bearing  no  indication  of  its  distinguished  associa- 
tions,   still   remains    standing   among   the   urivate 


Birthplace  and  Parentage,  9 

dwellings  within  the  cathedral  precincts,  and  for 
many  years  it  was  inhabited  by  the  late  dis- 
tinguished musical  composer,  Dr.  Wesley.  Of 
Raikes'  mother  little  is  known,  save  that  she  was 
the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Drew,  and  was 
twenty-five  years  younger  than  her  husband.  On 
the  monument  erected  in  St.  Mary  de  Crypt 
Church,  Gloucester,  to  the  memory  of  her  hus- 
band and  herself,  she  is  described  as  "  his  most 
excellent  wife  ;  "  and  the  exemplary  after-life  of  her 
children  tends  to  prove  that  her  epitaph,  unlike 
the  generality  of  its  class,  was  a  true  description 
of  her  real  character.  One  of  her  sons,  Thomas, 
became  an  eminent  Russia  merchant  in  London, 
and  was  for  many  years  a  director  of  the  Bank 
of  England.  Another  son,  Richard,  who  was 
Robert's  junior  by  eight  years,  was  educated  for 
the  Church,  and  took  his  degree  of  M.A.  at  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge.  After  having  been  a 
fellow  of  this  college  for  some  time,  he  married  a 
Gloucester  lady  (Miss  Mee),  and  in  1793  became 
perpetual  curate  of  Maisemore,  a  village  about  two 
miles  from  Gloucester.  While  holding  this  living 
he  resided  during  part  of  his  time  in  Gloucester, 
and  it  is  recorded  to  his  honour  that  he  heartily 
co-operated  in  his  brother's  philanthropic  labours. 


10  Robert  Raikcs. 


To  the  Rev.  Richard  Raikes  also,  in  'conjunction 
with  two  other  gentlemen,  is  due  the  establishment 
of  the  Gloucester  auxiliary  of  the  Bible  Society. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  held,  in  addition  to 
the  incumbency  of  Maisemore,  the  appointments 
of  Treasurer  and  Canon  of  St.  David's,  and 
Prebendary  of  Hereford.  A  monument  erected 
to  his  memory  in  Gloucester  Cathedral  bears  the 
following  inscription  : — "  To  the  memory  of  the 
Rev.  Richard  Raikes,  A.M.,  a  native  of  this  city  ; 
eminent  from  his  youth  as  a  scholar,  but  still  more 
eminent  as  a  Christian.  His  unfeigned  meekness, 
his  unwearied  benevolence,  his  unceasing  labour, 
exemplified  that  union  of  industry  and  humility 
which  he  regarded  as  peculiarly  characteristic  of 
the  Christian  Hfe.  These  qualities  were  in  him 
the  more  conspicuous,  because  maintained,  for 
nearly  sixty  years,  under  the  pressure  of  broken 
health  and  continual  personal  sufferings.  The 
principle  which  he  felt  and  avowed  as  the  source 
of  his  cheerful  submission  and  ready  obedience, 
was  faith  in  his  Redeemer,  on  whose  merits  alone 
he  relied  for  acceptance.  He  was  released  from 
his  labours,  September  5th,  1823,  in  the  80th  year 
of  his  age." 
\  Respecting  the  youth  of  Robert  Raikes  there  is 


Birthplace  and  Parentage.  1 1 

not  much  to  record.  His  father,  having  himself 
achieved  distinction  as  a  journalist,  intended  his 
eldest  son  for  the  same  career ;  and  with  this  view 
Robert  received  an  education  which  was  both 
liberal  and  practical.  It  has  been  stated  that  he 
went  to  Cambridge,  but  this  statement  lacks  con- 
firmation. One  of  his  personal  friends  in  after  life, 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Glasse,  D.D.,  wrote  respecting 
him  : — 

"  At  a  proper  time  of  life  he  was  initiated  into 
the  employment  of  his  father,  which  was  not  limited 
to  the  business  of  a  journalist,  but  extended  itself 
to  other  branches  of  typography ;  and  though  I 
will  not  compliment  my  hero  by  comparing  his 
literary  amusements  with  those  of  a  Bo\vyer  or  a 
Franklin,  yet  I  can  venture  to  pronounce  that  he 
entered  on  his  line  of  business  with  acquirements 
superior  to  the  nature  of  his  employment,  which, 
however,  has  always  been  considered  by  men  of 
science  and  education  as  very  respectable,  and  in 
which  he  is  not  less  remarkable  for  his  accuracy 
than  he  is  for  his  fidelity  and  integrity  in  every 
part  of  his  conduct."  * 

*  The  pamphlet  from  which  the  above  extract  is  talcen 
was  written  in  January,  1788.  Dr.  Glasse,  the  writer,  was 
a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  one  of  the  chaplains  in 


12  Robert  Raikes. 


ordinary  to  His  Majesty  George  III.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  "  a  very  intelligent  and  active  magistrate,  and  a  very 
popular  preacher."  Bowyer,  to  whom  he  refers  in  con- 
junction w^ith  Benjamin  Franklin,  the  American  patriot,  was 
a  celebrated  London  printer. 


I 


CHAPTER   TI. 

BUSINESS    LIFE. 

**  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in  his  business  ?  he  shall  stand 
before  kings." — Proverbs  xxii.  29, 

ON  the  death  of  his  father,  on  September  7th, 
1757,  the  responsibilities  of  a  large  and 
important  business  devolved  upon  Robert  Raikes. 
Not  only  did  he  become,  at  the  early  age  of  tvvo- 
and-twenty,  sole  proprietor  and  editor  of  the 
Gloucester  Journal — then  the  only  newspaper  in 
a  district  extending  over  many  miles — ^but  he 
succeeded  also  to  the  management  of  a  general 
printing  and  publishing  establishment,  in  which  the 
personal  character  of  the  master  exercised  a  most 
material  influence.  It  soon  became  apparent  that 
young  Raikes,  as  a  business  man,  was  in  no  respect 
inferior  to  his  father.  His  journal  continued  its 
prosperous  career,  and  the  other  departments  of 
\iis  business  were  equally  flourishing.     Respecting 


14  Robert  Raikes. 


the  typographical  work  done  on  his  premises,  a 
contemporary  critic,  himself  a  practical  printer,* 
wrote  : — "  Several  pieces,  among  which  may  be 
pointed  out  the  works  of  Dr.  Tucker,  Dean  of 
Gloucester,  are  such  as  will  suffer  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  the  productions  of  modern  typo- 
graphy." The  same  writer  testifies  to  the  "  ability 
diligence,  and  care  "  with  which  Raikes  conducted 
his  business.  Success  followed  as  a  matter  of 
X-,  course.  In  process  of  time,  the  young  printer 
grew  to  be  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in  his 
native  city.  The  estimation  in  which  his  com- 
mercial qualities  were  held  by  others  in  the  same 
profession  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  for  several 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Assistants 
of  the  Stationers'  Company  in  London. 

In  1767  he  was  married  at  St.  James's  Church, 
London,  to  Anne,  only  daughter  of  Thomas  Trigge, 
Esq...  of  Newnham,  Gloucestershire,  and  sister  to 
Sir  Thomas  Trigge  and  Rear-Admiral  John  Trigge. 
At  the  ripe  age  of  sixty-seven,  after  a  business  life 
of  forty-five  years,  he  retired  upon  a  well-earned 
competency.      It  was    on  the    12th  April,    1802, 

*  John  Nichols,  F.S.A.,  an  apprentice  to  Bowyer,  the 
London  printer,  and  author  of  "Literary  Anecdotes  of  tliie 
Eighteenth  Century." 


Business  Life.  i5 


that  he  took  his  farewell  of  the  readers  of  hi? 
newspaper,  in  these  terms  : — 

"  The  property  of  the  Gloucester  Journal  being 
immediately  to  be  transferred  to  another  person, 
R.  Raikes,  with  the  deepest  sense  of  grateful 
respect,  begs  leave  to  make  his  acknowledgments 
for  the  distinguished  favour  by  which,  from  its 
commencement  in  1722,  it  has  been  uniformly 
honoured.  The  candid  interpretation  of  his 
conduct,  which  he  has  on  all  occasions  expe- 
rienced, must  ever  inspire  feelings  of  peculiar 
obligation,  nor  can  he  cease  to  cherish  the 
flattering  remembrance  of  the  support  he  owes 
to  characters  of  the  first  consideration,  no  less  than 
to  the  community  in  general.  Mr.  D.  Walker  (late 
printer  of  the  Hereford  Journal)  succeeds  to  the 
direction  of  this  paper,  whose  best  efforts,  it  is 
humbly  hoped,  mil  be  rewarded  by  a  patronage 
correspondent  to  that  for  which  the  present  editor 
repeats  his  unfeigned  gratitude  at  the  interesting 
moment  of  final  retreat  from  an  undertaking  of 
which  a  revered  father  laid  the  foundation,  esta- 
blished the  credit,  and  supported  the  independence. 
To  preserve  the  respectability  and  favourable 
a|cceptance  of  the  Gloucester  Journal  has  so  long 
been  the  earnest  desire  of  the  Printer,   that  he 


1 6  Robert  Raikes, 


cannot  suppress  a  spontaneous  wish  for  its  future 
prosperity  when  for  the  last  time  he  is  about  to 
subscribe  himself  as  the  Proprietor,  with  every 
sentiment  of  deference  and  regard  to  the  public, 
R.  Raikes." 

Mr.  Raikes,  though  giving  up  the  proprietorship, 
retained  an  interest  in  the  newspaper,  and  received 
from  it  an  annuity  of  £,z^o  a  year  from  the  date 
of  his  retirement  to  his  death. 

The  building  in  which  Robert  Raikes  carried  on 
his  business  is  still  to  be  seen  in  Southgate-street, 
one  of  the  principal  thoroughfares  of  Gloucester. 
It  is  a  quaint,  roomy  old  house  with  gable  ends, 
now  in  the  occupation  of  a  firm  of  wine-merchants. 
The  upper  stories  project  to  a  considerable  extent 
over  the  lower  part,  and  the  fronts  are  braced  with 
stout  oak  timbers.  As  a  specimen  of  the  better 
class  of  English  residences  common  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  the  house  stands  conspicuous,  in  a 
fine  street,  for  its  good  condition,  soundness,  and 
picturesque  appearance.  Remembering  the  asso- 
ciations hanging  round  the  spot,  the  spectator 
may  easily  recall  the  portly  form  of  Robert  Raik^ 
passing  in  and  out  beneath  the  gables  and  pursuii 
his  philanthropic  work.  ^^ 

A    review  of  the  old  files  of  the   newspapef 


W 


Business  Life.  ly 


which  Raikes  owned  and  conducted  so  long  affords 
many  illustrations  of  the  difference  between  jour- 
nalism as  it  was  then,  and  journalism  as  it  is  now. 
Leading  articles,  which  now  figure  prominently  in 
every  newspaper,  were  then  but  rarely  seen.  Occa- 
sionally, the  editor,  or,  as  he  more  generally 
called  himself,  "  the  printer,"  deemed  it  necessary 
to  express  his  opinions  upon  some  current  topic, 
but  when  he  did  so  it  was  with  the  utmost  possible 
brevity.  "The  editor  of  a  weekly  paper,"  wrote 
Raikes,  "  is  under  a  necessity  of  suppressing  pieces 
that  might  be  an  ornament  to  it,  that  matters  of 
opinion  may  not  take  the  place  of  matters  of  fact." 
When  "  matters  of  opinion  "  did  obtrude,  Raikes 
strove  to  make  them  as  generally  acceptable  as 
possible.  Of  course  he  found  that  he  could  not 
please  everybody.  One  week  he  was  obliged  to 
wTite  as  follows  :  "  Whatever  degree  of  anxiety  the 
printer  may  feel  to  have  his  paper  as  much  as 
possible  the  vehicle  of  nothing  but  what  is  accept- 
able to  all  his  readers,  in  matters  of  party,  the 
Sv  publisher  of  a  country  paper,  of  necessity  open  to 
both  sides,  cannot  consider  himself  answerable  for 

Everything   which    may  appear  of   that    nature." 
T 
"  To  convey  to  the  public  true  and  well-founded 

^Jarticles  of  intelligence,"  was  Raikes'  own  definition 


1 8  Robert  Raikes. 


of  his  great  object  in  the  compilation  of  his  news- 
paper. ^  It  was  not  always  an  easy  matter  to  ac- 
complish that  object.  Special  reports  by  telegraph 
or  railway  were  then  unknown.  For  the  general 
intelligence  of  the  week  country  newspapers  had 
to  rely  upon  newspackets  brought  by  coach  from 
London,  and  it  not  unfrequently  happened  that 
these  packets  miscarried.  Sometimes,  even  when 
they  came,  they  were  inaccurate,  and  the  poor 
printer  had  to  correct  one  week  what  he  had 
stated  the  week  before.  In  nothing  does  the 
printer  seem  to  have  been  more  frequently  hoaxed 
than  in  his  intelligence  respecting  "Births,  Mar- 
riages, and  Deaths," — then  a  most  important 
item  in  the  paper.  Some  of  the  contradictions  of 
misstatements  under  this  head  are  very  curious. 
One  lady,  writing  to  deny  the  report  of  her  own 
death,  indulged  in  the  amiable  remark  that  she 
was  "  in  good  health,  and,  what  is  more,  hoped  to 
outlive  her  enemies." 

With  announcements  of  marriages,  it  was  the  cus- . 
tom  frequently  to  enlarge  upon  the  eligible  qualities 
of  the  contracting  parties.  For  instance,  we  read 
one  week:  "On  Wednesday  last  were  concluded 
the  happy  nuptials  of  honour  and  virtue,  in  the 
persons  of  the  worthy  Mr.  Charles  Jones  and  the 


Business  Life,  19 


accomplished  Miss  Harrison."  Sometimes  it  is 
said  that  the  bride  has  a  "  handsome  fortune,"  and 
occasionally  even  the  amount  is  mentioned  as  "add- 
ing to  the  nuptial  joy."  The  following  announce- 
ment to  a  correspondent  is  evidence  that  Raikes 
now  and  then  received  communications  which  he 
deemed  too  high-flown  in  their  personal  praises  to  be 
printed:  "Presuming  that  the  delicacy  of  the  young 
lady  might  possibly  be  hurt  by  an  address  in  the 
newspaper,  we  must  beg  leave  to  decline  inserting  the 

intended  compliment  to  Miss  P r,  of  P ck." 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  in  Raikes'  journal  a 
remarkable  absence  of  those  scurrilous  personalities 
with  which  most  newspapers  of  the  eighteenth 
century  abounded.  Not  a  single  instance  of 
personal  abuse  can  be  found  in  the  Gloucester 
journal  during  the  whole  of  the  many  years  it  was 
under  the  control  of  Robert  Raikes.  This  fact  is 
no  slight  testimony  to  the  elevated  character  of 
the  man. 

Some  of  his  notices  to  correspondents  afford 
further  proof  of  Raikes'  sterling  virtue.  In  the 
follomng  paragraph  he  attempts  to  act  as  a  peace- 
maker :  "  Our  Worcester  correspondent  will  appear 
in  a  more  amiable  character  if  he  will  exert  the 
talents  he  is  master  of  in  reconciling  his  divided 


20  Robert  Raikes. 


neighbours  rather  than  in  keeping  up  that  spirit  of 
discord  which  has  lately  prevailed  there."  On 
another  occasion  Raikes  invites  an  irate  corre- 
spondent to  dine  with  him,  and  make  known 
his  grievance  to  the  printer  in  private.  Frequent 
references  by  correspondents  to  "Mr.  Raikes* 
well-known  candour,"  and  to  the  "truth  and 
'  impartiality  "  of  his  paper,  show  that  his  manifest 
•  integrity  of  purpose  in  business  life  was  generally 
acknowledged.  Probably  for  this  very  reason 
he  sometimes  found  himself  entrusted  with  com- 
missions that  do  not  generally  fall  to  the  lot  of 
literary  men.  One  week,  for  instance,  he  announces : 
"  The  printer  of  this  journal  is  desired  to  procure 
two  hogsheads  of  the  finest,  richest,  and  pleasantest 
cyder  which  is  to  be  got.  He  does  not  regard 
price.  The  cyder  is  to  be  compared  with  the  finest 
cyder  that  can  be  procured  from  Normandy  and 
from  Devonshire.  It  is  for  a  great  foreign  poten- 
tate, and  it  may  be  of  service  to  this  county  to 
have  the  preference." 

Raikes'  independence  in  business  transactions  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  he  required  "  ready  money 
with  advertisements,"  and  that  he  frequently  excluded 
advertisements  from  his  paper  to  make  room  for 
news.     Every  now  and  again  we  read  that  "by 


Business  Life,  21 


reason  of  the  length  of  the  foreign  despatches/*  or 
"  on  account  of  the  important  reports  of  Parliamen- 
tary debates,  a  number  of  advertisements  are  held 
over,  but  will  appear  next  week."  There  are  very 
few  newspaper  proprietors  who  would  venture  on 
such  an  announcement  now. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  PRISON  PHILANTHROPIST. 
"  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came  unto  me." — Matt.  xxv.  36. 

THE  Sunday-school  system,  with  which  the 
name  of  Robert  Raikes  will  ever  be  insepa- 
rably connected,  may  be  said  to  have  originated  in 
^the  Gloucester  gaols.  It  was  there  that  he  learned 
the  direct  connection  between  ignorance  and  crime, 
and  there  he  saw  the  futility  of  punishing  the  effect 
(O  without  removing  the  cause.  At  the  time  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  proprietorship  of  the  Gloucester  Jour- 
naif  there  were  two  gaols  in  Gloucester, — one  for 
the  county,  the  other  for  the  city.  The  county  gaol 
consisted  of  a  portion  of  Gloucester  Castle,  a  for- 
tress built  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
at  which  time  Gloucester  was  occasionally  a  royal, 
residence,  by  Walter,  the  Constable  of  England. 
Beneath  its  ancient  walls  ran  an  arm  of  the  river 
Severn.  After  the  fifteenth  century  the  castle  fell 
into  a  state  of  desuetude,  and  early  in  the  eightet  nth 


The  Prison  Philanthropist  23 

century  the  less  dilapidated  portion  was  turned  into 
a  prison.  Its  condition,  when  Raikes  first  knew  it, 
was  simply  horrible.  Though  from  forty  to  sixty 
fresh  prisoners  were  received  within  its  walls  every 
week,  there  was  but  one  court  for  them  all.  The 
day-room  for  men  and  women  felons  was  only 
twelve  feet  long  by  eleven  feet  broad.  Persons 
imprisoned  for  debt,  of  whom  there  was  always  a 
great  number,  were  huddled  together  in  a  d?n 
fourteen  feet  by  eleven,  without  windows,  and  with 
no  provision  for  admitting  light  and  air  save  a  hole 
broken  in  the  plaster  wall.  In  the  upper  part  of 
the  building  was  a  close  dark  room  called  "  the 
main,"  in  which  the  male  felons  were  kept  during 
the  night,  and  the  floor  of  this  apartment  was 
so  ruinous  that  it  could  not  be  washed.  Directly 
opposite  the  stairs  leading  to  this  sleeping-room  was 
a  large  dung-hill.  Owing  to  the  utter  absence  of  all 
sanitary  arrangements,  the  whole  place  continually 
reeked  with  infection,  and  deaths  were  of  constant 
occurrence.  Sometimes  as  many  as  a  dozen  victims 
succumbed  in  a  month.  As  far  as  the  debtors  were 
concerned,  the  only  wonder  is  that  any  of  them 
survived.  No  provision  of  any  kind  was  made  to 
keep  them  alive.  No  allowance  was  granted  them, 
either  of  food  or  money,  nor  was  any  opportunity 


24  Robert  Raikes, 


given  them  of  earning  anything.  At  night,  unless 
they  could  afford  to  pay  for  beds,  they  were  obliged 
to  lie  upon  straw,  and  for  clothing  as  for  food  they 
were  entirely  dependent  upon  their  own  resources 
or  the  charity  of  the  benevolent.  The  prisoners 
committed  for  felony,  though,  as  a  rule,  less  de- 
serving, were  a  little  better  treated.  They  were 
provided  with  beds  and  clothing,  and  allowed  a 
sixpenny  loaf  every  two  days.  The  indiscriminate 
hoarding  together  of  debtors  and  felons,  men  and 
women,  child  offenders  and  hardened  criminals, 
was  productive  of  the  most  fearful  immorality. 
Every  new  inmate,  on  entering  this  den  of  iniquity, 
was  required  by  his  fellow-prisoners  to  pay  a  certain 
sum  of  money,  called  "  garnish,"  which  was  imme- 
diately spent  in  beer,  bought  from  the  gaoler,  who 
eked  out  his  erholuments  by  the  profits  derived 
from  this  trade.  The  gaoler  had  no  salary,  but  was 
paid  by  fees.  Attempts  to  escape  were  of  frequent 
occurrence,  and  as  the  place  was  most  inefficiently 
guarded,  they  were  often  successful. 

Scarcely  less  deplorable  was  the  condition  of  the 
city  prison,  an  old  building  forming  part  of  the 
north  gate,  one  of  the  four  gates  which  then  stood 
at  the  principal  entrances  to  the  city.  The  gaoler 
received  no  salary,  and  paid  the  sheriff;^ 4  14^.  a 


The  Prison  Philanthropist.  25 

year  for  his  situation.  All  the  inmates— debtorsj 
felons,  and  petty  offenders — who  could  not  pay  foi 
beds,  were  kept  together  in  "  the  main  "  room,  the 
women  being  separated  from  the  other  prisoners  at 
night.  There  was  no  court,  but  the  debtors  had 
the  "  privilege  "  of  walking  upon  the  leads.  In  the 
matter  of  provisions,  however,  the  debtors  in  the 
city  gaol  were  much  better  off  than  their  brethren 
in  the  castle,  for  they  received  three  shillings  a 
week  and  threepenny  worth  of  bread  per  day,  with 
"garnish." 

For  years  before  the  celebrated  John  Howard 
commenced  his  prison  crusade,  Robert  Raikes  had 
been  unostentatiously  labouring  among  the  miser- 
able inmates  of  Gloucester  Castle.  His  first  efforts 
seem  to  have  been  to  provide  the  necessaries  of  life 
for  the  imprisoned  debtors,  and  with  this  object  he 
was  earnest  in  his  solicitations,  both  through  the 
channel  of  his  newspaper  and  by  personal  applica- 
tions to  his  friends.  As  early  as  1768  we  find  in  the 
Journal  many  such  paragraphs  as  the  following  : — 

"The  prisoners  confined  in  the  castle,  without 
allowance  and  mthout  the  means  of  subsistence  by 
labour,  most  humbly  entreat  some  little  assistance 
from  those  who  can  pity  their  wretchedness.     The 


26  Robert  Raikes. 


favours  they  have  heretofore  received  will  ever  be 
remembered  with  gratitude." 

"  The  unhappy  wretches  who  are  confined  in  our 
county  gaol  for  small  crimes  which  are  not  deemed 
felonies  (for  felons  have  an  allowance  of  bread)  are 
in  so  deplorable  a  state  that  several  of  them  would 
have  perished  with  hunger  but  for  the  humanity  of 
the  felonS)  who  have  divided  with  them  their  little 
pittance.  A  person  who  looked  into  the  prison  on 
Saturday  morning  was  assured  that  several  had  not 
tasted  food  for  two  or  three  days  before.  Were  a 
county  Bridewell  established  they  might  then  work 
for  their  subsistence.  The  boilings  of  pots  or  the 
sweepings  of  pantries  would  be  well  bestowed  on 
these  poor  wretches.  Benefactions  for  their  use  will 
be  received  by  the  printer  of  this  journal." 

"  The  little  sums  which  have  been  deposited  by 
the  benevolent  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  of  this 
journal,  for  the  relief  of  the  necessities  of  those 
persons  who  are  confined  in  the  castle  without  any 
allowance,  are  now  exhausted.  There  are  near  twenty 
persons  entirely  destitute  of  support  or  the  means 
of  acquiring  it." 

In  response  to  these  appeals  Raikes  received 
many  contributions,   which    he  personally  distri- 


TJu  Prison  Philanthropist.  27 

buted  among  the  most  needy  cases  in  the  gaol 
John  Howard,  who  visited  Gloucester  county  gaol 
in  1773,  and  dined  at  Mr.  Raikes'  table,  thus 
bears  testimony  to  the  value  of  his  labours  :  "  In 
September  the  felons  were  very  pitiable  objects 
indeed, — half-naked  and  almost  famished.  In 
December  their  appearance  was  much  altered. 
Mr.  Raikes  and  other  gentlemen  took  •  pity  on 
them,  and  generously  contributed  towards  their 
feeding  and  clothing.  Mr.  Raikes  continues  his 
unremitting  attention  to  the  prisoners."  Raikes  did 
not  content  himself  with  relieving  the  temporal 
necessities  of  the  prisoners.  He  cared  also  for 
their  moral  and  spiritual  wants.  Frequently  mixing 
among  them,  he  endeavoured  to  awaken  within 
them  aspirations  towards  a  better  life.  To  those 
who  were  able  to  read  he  supplied  good  books, 
and  he  encouraged  them  by  precept  and  example 
to  instruct  their  less  favoured  fellow-prisoners. 
For  all  who  were  able  and  willing  to  work  he 
endeavoured  to  find  some  kind  of  occupation, 
and  he  ever  strove  to  inculcate  among  them  the 
Christian  principle  of  kindness  one  towards  the 
other.  To  his  labours  in  this  direction  the 
following  valuable  testimony  is  borne  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Glasse,  D.D.,  a  contemporary  and  friend 


28  Robert  Raikes. 


of  Raikes,  whom  he  termed  "  The  father  of  the 
poor " : — 

"  Whereas  extreme  ignorance  was  very  properly 
considered  by  him  as  the  principal  cause  of  those 
enormities  which  brought  them  into  their  deplor- 
able situation,  precluding  all  hope  of  any  lasting 
or  real  amendment  from  their  punishment,  his 
\  great  desire  was,  if  possible,  to  procure  for  them 
^  some  moral  and  -religious  instruction.  If,  among 
the  prisoners,  he  found  one  that  was  able  to  read, 
he  gladly  made  use  of  him  to  instruct  his  fellow- 
prisoners,  encouraging  his  diligence  and  fidelity  in 
this  undertaking  by  pecuniary  rewards,  and  pro- 
curing for  him  such  other  kinds  of  indulgence  as 
his  situation  would  admit  of.  Having  thus  put 
them  in  a  method  of  improving  their  time,  he  has 
met  with  instances  of  persons,  especially  among  the 
younger  offenders,  who  have  attained  to  a  com- 
petent proficiency  in  reading,  which  has  'served 
both  as  an  amusement  to  them  during  their  confine- 
ment, and  as  a  recommendation  of  them  in  their 
restoration  to  the  community.  It  may  more  easily 
be  conceived  than  expressed  what  that  benevolent 
heart  must  have  felt  (and  this  pleasure  he  has  often 
received)  when  he  has  heard  the  prisoner  thank 
God  that,  by  being  detected  in  his  crimes,  appre- 


The  Prison  Philanthropist.  29 

hended,  and  imprisoned,  he  has  had  opportunities 
afforded  him  of  learning  that  good  which  otherwise 
he  would  probably  have  never  known  in  his  whole 
life.  The  choice  of  books  being  judiciously  made, 
and  religious  instruction  going  hand-in-hand  with 
other  information,  the  teacher  himself  has  often 
learnt  while  he  was  instructing  others,  and,  from 
the  very  nature  of  his  employment,  became  im- 
perceptibly a  better  man.  But  the  care  of  this 
philanthropist  was  not  confined  merely  to  the  busi- 
ness of  literary  improvement :  it  was  not  less  his 
desire  to  form  their  hearts,  if  it  were  possible,  to 
sentiments  of  kindness  to  each  other.  Indeed,  it 
was  one  of  his  principal  endeavours  to  subdue  in 
them,  if  it  were  possible,  that  savage  ferocity  of 
temper  and  behaviour  which  only  served  to  ren 
der  their  situation  more  hateful  and  intolerable. 
Observing  that  idleness  was  the  parent  of  much 
mischief  among  them,  and  that  they  quarrelled 
with  one  another  because  they  had  nothing  else  to 
do,  he  endeavoured  to  procure  employment  for 
such  as  were  willing,  or  even  permitted,  to  work." 

By  none  were  Howard's  philanthropic  schemes 
more  warmly  supported  than  by  Robert  Raikes. 
For  years  before  Howard  discovered  the  enormity 
of  the  then  existing  prison  system,  Raikes  had  been 


30  Robert  Raikes, 


denouncing  in  the  columns  of  his  newspaper  the 
flagrant  abuses  connected  with  the  Gloucester 
gaols,  which  he  contended  could  be  remedied 
only  by  a  radical  reform.  Through  the  exertions 
of  Howard  and  Sir  George  Paul  that  reform  was 
ultimately  brought  about.  The  first  step  towards 
it  was  in  1774,  when,  by  the  efforts  of  Howard,  two 
Bills  were  passed  through  Parliament,  one  abolish- 
ing gaolers'  fees  and  assigning  to  gaolers  a  fixed 
remuneration  out  of  the  county  rates,  and  the 
other  requiring  magistrates  to  provide  for  the 
white-washing  and  cleansing  of  prisons,  the  es- 
tablishment of  gaol  infirmaries,  and  the  proper 
care  of  prisoners.  Ten  years  later,  Gloucester 
Castle  and  its  site  were  ceded  by  the  Crown  to 
the  county  of  Gloucester,  and  shortly  afterwards, 
thanks  to  the  energy  of  Howard  and  Sir  George 
Paul,  whose  plans  ever  had  the  warm  support  of 
Robert  Raikes,  the  old  county  prison  was  abolished, 
and  a  new  and  commodious  one,  still  in  existence, 
was  erected  in  its  place.  In  this  building,  to 
which  the  prisoners  from  the  city  gaol  were 
subsequently  transferred,  the  separate  system  of 
Sir  George  Paul  was  first  reduced  to  practice.  To 
show  the  contrast  between  the  old  and  new  gaols, 
we    may  quote    a    statement    in    Miss   Bumey's 


The  Prison  Philanthropist.  31 

diary,  July  19th,  1788,  narrating  a  visit  to  Glou- 
cester. With  reference  to  the  prison,  whither  she 
was  conducted  by  Mr.  Raikes  and  his  family,  she 
wrote : — 

"  Next  they  carried  us  to  the  gaol,  to  show  us 
in  how  small  a  space,  I  suppose,  human  beings 
can  live  as  well  as  die  or  be  dead.  The  gaol  is 
admirably  constructed  for  its  proper  purpose — 
confinement  and  punishment.  Every  culprit  is  to 
have  a  separate  cell ;  every  cell  is  clean,  neat,  and 
small,  looking  towards  a  wide  expanse  of  country, 
and,  far  more  fitted  to  his  supplications,  a  wide 
expanse  of  the  heavens.  An  air  of  cleanliness  and 
health  seem  to  be  considered,  but  no  other  in- 
dulgence." 

While  seeking  to  show  his  practical  sympathy 
with  the  inmates  of  the  gaol,  Raikes  often  took  the- 
opportunity  of  illustrating,  by  a  reference  to  their 
wretchedness,  the  contrast  between  the  happiness 
of  a  path  of  virtue  and  the  misery  of  a  path  of 
vice.  His  paper  abounded  with  such  reflections 
on  this  subject.  Recording  one  week  the  deaths 
of  several  prisoners,  he  ^vrote :  "  It  were  well  if 
those  unthinking  people  who  now  enjoy  but  abuse 
their  life  and  liberty  to  the  violation  of  the  law 
and  the  detriment  of  society,  would  reflect  on  the 

3 


Robert  Raikes, 


danger  of  infection  and  the  other  miseries  that 
await  them  in  a  crowded  prison."  In  June,  1783, 
in  mentioning  that  no  less  than  sixty-six  persons  were 
committed  to  the  castle  in  one  week,  he  added  : 
"  The  prison  is  already  so  full  that  all  the  gaoler's 
stock  of  fetters  is  occupied,  and  the  smiths  are 
hard  at  work  casting  new  ones.  Could  unhappy 
^vretches  see  the  misery  that  awaits  them  in  a 
crowded  ga®l  they  would  surely  relinquish  the 
gratifications  that  reduce  theip  to  such  a  state  of 
wretchedness."  As  showing  that  he  recognised 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  crime,  there  follows 
this  significant  remark  :  **The  people  sent  in  are 
neither  disappointed  soldiers  nor  sailors,  but 
chiefly  frequenters  of  alehouses  and  skittle-alleys." 
Another  paragraph  says :  "  The  ships  about  to 
sail  for  Botany  Bay  will  carry  about  one  thousand 
miserable  creatures,  who  might  have  lived  per- 
haps happily  in  this  country  had  they  been  early 
taught  good  principles  and  to  avoid  the  danger 
of  associating  with  those  who  make  sobriety  and 
industry  objects  of  their  ridicule."  In  1790  a 
man  named  John  Weaver,  who  had  been  con- 
victed of  stealing  two  geese,  was  ordered  to  be 
transported  for  seven  years.  "This  practice," 
says  a  paragraph  in  the  Totirnal,  "of  robbing  the 


The  Prison  Philanthropist,  33 

farmers  of  their  poultry  is  become  so  general  that 
the  Court  is  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  it  as  far  as 
a  severe  punishment  can  contribute  to  that  desirable 
object.  It  will  be  a  dear  price  to  pay  for  a  couple 
of  geese, — not  only  the  forfeiture  of  liberty,  but  the 
confinement  for  ten  or  eleven  months  in  the  hold 
of  a  crowded  ship,  and  then  to  be  landed  in  a 
distant  country,  from  whence  the  means  of  return 
are  utterly  hopeless."  These  are  specimens  of 
large  numbers  of  paragraphs  to  be  found  in  the 
journal  while  Raikes  was  its  "  printer." 

Among  many  striking  incidents  of  gaol  life 
which  came  under  Raikes'  notice  was  the  follow- 
ing :  A  man  named  Daniel  Munday  had  been 
committed  to  prison  for  stealing  wood.  He  was 
a  great  swearer.  One  night,  while  uttering  some 
blasphemous  imprecations,  his  brother,  who  was 
also  in  prison,  reproved  him.  Daniel  continued 
his  language,  and  called  on  his  Maker  to  strike 
him  dumb  if  he  did  not  hang  himself  Next 
morning  the  turnkey  found  him  in  bed  at  a  late 
hour,  "  and  supposing  he  lay  there  from  sulkiness 
or  ill-humour  gave  him  some  blows  with  a  stick." 
Munday  made  signs  that  he  was  dumb,  and  this 
was  found  to  be  the  case.  He  continued  speech- 
less for  several  days,  and  for  some  time  after  his 


34  Robert  Raikes. 


speech  was  restored  he  was  "very  exemplary  in 
his  behaviour  and  thankful  to  any  of  his  fellow- 
prisoners  who  would  read  to  him."  His  contrition 
was,  however,  short-lived.  Two  years  later,  a  clergy- 
man at  North  Nibley,  writing  to  the  Journal ^  said 
that  Munday  was  engaged  in  repairing  a  well  in 
that  village,  and  was  about  to  descend  with  some 
materials,  when  his  companion  begged  him  to 
remain  on  the  bank,  as  a  portion  of  the  wall  had 
fallen  in.  Munday,  using  an  oath,  declared  he 
would  go,  whatever  the  consequences,  and  he 
commenced  his  descent.  "  The  words  were  hardly 
out  of  his  mouth  when  ten  feet  of  the  top  of  the 
wall  fell  in  on  the  unhappy  wretch  and  carried  him 
to  the  bottom."  His  dead  body  was  recovered 
some  hours  afterwards 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  SUNDAY  SCHOOLS. 

**  It  is  my  wish   that   every  poor  child   in  my  kingdom 
should  be  taught  to  read  the  Bible." — George  III. 

BEFORE  dealing  with  the  circumstances  of 
that  which  constitutes  Robert  Raikes'  chief 
claim  to  the  reverence  of  a  grateful  posterity — the 
part  he  took  in  the  estabhshment  of  Sunday- 
schools, — it  may  perhaps  save  misapprehension  at 
once  to  define  the  limits  of  his  share  in  that  work. 
Many  controversies  have  waged  round  the  question, 
Was  Raikes  the  founder  of  Sunday-schools  ?  The 
answer  is  entirely  dependent  upon  the  construc- 
tion put  upon  the  word  "founder."  If  by  "the 
founder  of  Sunday-schools  "  is  meant  the  person 
with  whom  the  idea  of  imparting  education  to  the 
young  on  the  Lord's  day  first  originated,  or  by 
whom  that  idea  was  first  carried  into  execution, 
Raikes  is  not  entitled  to  the  description.  Years 
before  Raikes  commenced  his  work,  the  notion 
of   Sunday  instruction    had    presented    itself   to 


36  Robert  Raikes. 


several  philanthropic  individuals  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  and  was  in  isolated  cases  put  into 
practice.  In  one  sense  of  the  term,  therefore, 
each  of  these  persons  has  a  prior  claim  to  Raikes 
to  the  title  of  "  founder  of  Sunday-schools." 
Again,  if  by  the  term  "founder"  is  meant  the 
person  to  whom  alone  the  establishment  of  Sun- 
day-schools is  due,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  parti- 
cipation in  the  work  on  the  part  of  others,  Raikes 
cannot  lay  claim  to  the  honour;  nor  indeed  can 
any  other  individual.  In  the  whole  of  his  labours 
Raikes  had  several  most  valuable  co-workers,  and 
to  one,  at  least — the  Rev.  Thomas  Stock — ^belongs 
almost,  if  not  quite,  as  much  credit  for  the  in- 
stitution of  schools  in  Gloucester  as  to  Raikes 
^himself.  Raikes'  distinctive  honour  lies  in  the 
fact  that,  having  in  common  with  several  other 
kindred  spirits  perceived  the  advantages  that 
would  attend  Sunday  teaching,  he  did  not  content 
himself,  as  did  others,  with  establishing  a  school 
or  schools  in  his  own  neighbourhood,  but  by 
means  of  his  newspaper  and  other  organs  of 
public  opinion  he  recommended  the  practice  far 
and  wide,  and  never  ceased  his  advocacy  till  the 
scheme  was  generally  adopted  throughout  the  land. 
The  movement,  hitherto  unheard  of  save  in  a  few 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.     37 

provincial  towns  and  villages,  was  by  him  brought 
into  the  light  of  day.  In  vigorous  language  he 
introduced  it  to  all  classes  of  readers.  From 
cottager  to  king,  all  learned  of  the  new  institu- 
tion through  Robert  Raikes.  He  raised  Sunday 
teaching  from  a  fortuitous  rarity  into  a  universal 
system.  He  found  the  practice  local :  he  made 
it  national.  It  is  upon  this  ground  that  admirers 
of  Raikes  rest  his  claim  to  the  honoured  title  of 
"  founder  of  Sunday-schools." 

The  principles  upon  which  Sunday-schools  are 
based  being  as  old  as  Christianity  itself,  it  is  not 
surprising  to  find  those  principles  reduced  to 
practice  in  numerous  instances  prior  to  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  Sunday-school  system  by  Robert 
Raikes.  As  early  as  the  sixteenth  century  Saint 
Charles  Borromeo,  nephew  of  Pope  Pius  V.,  and 
Cardinal  and  Archbishop  of  Milan,  founded  in 
the  parishes  of  his  diocese  a  number  of  Sunday- 
schools  of  which  many  continue  to  the  present  day. 
He  died  in  1584,  at  the  age  of  forty-six.  About 
a  hundred  years  later,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Alleine,  an 
eminent  Nonconformist  of  Taunton,  and  author 
of  the  "  Alarm  to  the  Unconverted,"  adopted  the 
plan  of  gathering  the  young  together  for  instruction 
on  the  Lord's  day.     In  the  county  of  Gloucester. 


3^  Robert  Raikes, 


years  before  Raikes  was  born,  Mrs.  Catherine 
Boevey,  of  Flaxley  Abbey,  had  one  of  the  earliest, 
and  certainly  one  of  the  pleasantest,  Sunday- 
schools  on  record.  Her  monument  in  Flaxley 
Church,  erected  after  her  death  in  1726,  records 
her  "  clothing  and  feeding  her  indigent  neighbours 
and  teaching  their  children,  some  of  whom  every 
Sunday  by  turns  she  entertained  at  her  house  and 
condescended  to  examine  them  herself"  "Six  of 
the  poor  children,"  it  is  elsewhere  stated,  "by 
turns  dined  at  her  residence  on  Sundays,  and  were 
afterwards  heard  say  the  catechism."  In  America, 
\  a  Sunday-school  was  founded  between  1740  and 
1747  by  one  Ludwig  Hacker,  at  Ephrata,  Lancaster 
county,  Pennsylvania,  among  the  German  Seventh- 
day  Baptists  settled  there.  After  the  battle  of 
Brandy-wine,  fought  between  the  American  colonists 
and  the  British  troops  in  1777,  the  schoolroom  was 
used  as  an  hospital,  and  this  event  occasioned  the 
breaking  up  of  the  school.  In  1763-4  a  Sunday- 
school  was  established  at  Catterick,  Yorkshire,  by 
the  Rev.  Theophilus  Lindsey,  conjointly  with  a 
benevolent  lady  named  Cappe.  Miss  Hannah 
Ball,  a  young  Methodist  lady,  living  at  High 
Wycombe,  started  a  Sunday-school  in  her  native 
town  in  1769.     Writing  to  John  Wesley  in   1770 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.     39 

she  said :  "  The  children  meet  twice  a  week, — 
every  Sunday  and  Monday.  They  are  a  wild  little 
company,  but  seem  willing  to  be  instructed.  I 
labour  among  them  earnestly,  desiring  to  promote 
the  interest  of  the  Church  of  Christ."  Another 
school,  on  a  somewhat  humble  scale,  was  esta- 
blished at  Little  Lever,  a  village  four  miles  from 
Bolton,  Lancashire,  by  a  poor  man  named  James 
Hey,  or,  as  he  was  more  generally  termed,  "  Old 
Jemmy  o'  th'  Hey."  "  Old  Jemmy  "  employed  the 
working  days  of  the  week  in  ^vinding  bobbins  for 
weavers,  and  on  Sundays  he  taught  the  boys  and 
girls  of  the  neighbourhood  reading.  His  school 
assembled  twice  each  Sunday  in  the  cottage  of  a 
neighbour,  and  the  time  of  commencing  was 
announced  by  the  ringing,  not  of  a  bell,  but  of 
an  excellent  substitute — an  old  brass  pestle  and 
mortar  !  After  a  while,  Mr.  Adam  Compton,  a 
paper  manufacturer  in  the  neighbourhood,  began 
to  supply  Jemmy  with  books^  and  subscriptions  in 
money  were  given  him.  He  was  thus  enabled  to 
form  three  branch  establishments,  the  teachers  of 
which  were  paid  one  shilling  each  per  Sunday  for 
their  services.  In  1778,  a  Sunday-school  was 
commenced  in  Macclesfield  by  the  Rev.  David 
Simpson.     And  in  the   same  year  it  is  said  that 


40  Robert  Raikes. 


the  Rev.  Thomas  Stock — afterwards  Raikes'  co- 
worker in  Gloucester — had  a  Sunday-school  at 
Ashbury,  in  Berkshire. 

-,  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Robert  Raikes' 
labours  in  the  establishment  of  Sunday-schools  were 
the  direct  sequence  of  his  philanthropic  work  in 
the  Gloucester  gaols.  This  is  clearly  brought  out 
in  the  following  narrative,  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Glasse,  a  personal  friend  of  Raikes,  eight  years  after 
the  first  school  in  Gloucester  had  been  started : — 

"  Mr.  Raikes  could  not  but  have  found,  from 
painful  experience,  what  up-hill  work  he  was  en- 
gaged in  while  he  was  endeavouring  to  humanize 
those  dispositions  which  had  been  long  inured  to 
habits  of  uncontrolled  ferocity  and  self-will.  He 
could  not  but  have  observed  the  slowness  and  dul- 
ness  of  scholars  unhabituated  to  any  application  of 
the  mind  except  to  mischief,  and  must  needs  have 
seen  with  concern  how  very  unsusceptible  even  such 
as  were  willing  to  learn  were  of  literary,  moral,  or 
religious  instruction.  He  could  not  but  have  fre- 
quently reflected,  in  his  intercourse  with  those 
wretched  delinquents,  on  the  profound  ignorance  in 
whieh  they  had  grown  up  to  maturity  in  an  utter 
contempt  of  the  wholesome  restraints,  and  a  pro- 
fessed disregard  of  the  sacred  duties,  of  religion. 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.    41 

"The  return  of  every  Sabbath,  which  gave 
liberty  to  the  lower  classes  of  the  people  to  show 
themselves,  exhibited  to  his  view  multitudes  of  the 
rising  generation  of  the  poor,  pursuing,  as  he  con- 
ceived, precisely  the  same  plan  which  had  been  so 
unfortunately  adopted  by  those  already  mentioned 
within  the  walls  of  the  prison.  The  streets  were 
full  of  noise  and  disturbance  every  Sunday,  the 
churches  were  totally  unfrequented  by  the  poorer 
sort  of  children,  and  Very  ill-attended  by  their  pa- 
rents :  they  were  nowhere  to  be  seen  employed  as 
they  ought  to  be.  Had  they  been  disposed  to  learn 
or  attend  to  anything  that  was  good,  their  parents 
were  neither  willing  nor  able  to  teach  or  to  direct 
them;  they  were  therefore  a  perpetual  nuisance 
to  the  sober  part  of  the  community.  They  were 
riotous,  impudent,  and  regardless  of  all  authority 
whatsoever  in  their  mode  of  behaviour,  disrespectful 
in  the  extreme,  and  frequently  detected  in  such 
petty  offences  as  plainly  indicated  that  they  were  on 
the  high  road  to  perdition,  iinless  something;  could 
be  dnnft  W  rtrnrnr  thrm  It  occurred  to  him,  and 
to  a  worthy  clergyman  (Mr.  Stock),  to  whom  he 
complained  of  the  dissolute  state  of  these  poor 
children,  that  infinite  would  be  the  benefit,  as  well 
to  the  community  as  themselves,  if  any  method 


42  Robert  Raikes, 


could  be  contrived  of  lapng  them  under  some 
proper  restraint  and  instilling  some  good  princi- 
ples into  their  minds. 

"  The  foundation,  they  well  knew,  must  be  laid 
in  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  in  a  reverence  for  the 
duties  of  religion,  and  for  all  things  relating  to  the 
Divine  honour  and  service.  Mr.  Raikes  soon 
began  to  make  known  his  intentions  to  the  parents, 
and  without  much  difficulty  obtained  their  consent 
that  their  children  should  meet  him  at  the  early 
service  performed  in  the  cathedral  on  a  Sunday 
morning.  The  numbers  at  first  were  small,  but 
their  increase  was  rapid.  The  gentleness  of  his 
behaviour  towards  them ;  the  allowance  they  found 
him  disposed  to  make  for  their  former  misbe- 
haviour, which  was  merely  from  a  want  of  a  better 
information;  the  amiable  picture  which  he  drew 
for  them  when  he  represented  kindness  and  bene- 
volence to  each  othei  as  the  source  of  real  happi- 
ness, and  wickedness,  malice,  hatred,  and  ill-will 
as  the  cause  of  all  the  misery  in  the  world ;  the  in- 
terest which  they  soon  discovered  him  to  have  in 
their  welfare,  which  appeared  in  his  minute  inquiries 
into  their  conduct,  their  attainments,  their  situation, 
and  every  particular  of  their  lives — all  these  cir- 
cumstances soon  induced  them  to  fly  with  eager 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.    43 

ness  to  receive  the  commands  and  be  edified  by  the 
instruction  of  their  best  friend. 

"  Mr.  Raikes  very  soon  saw  himself  surrounded 
by  such  a  set  of  little  ragamuffins  as  would  have 
disgusted  other  men  less  zealous  to  do  good  and 
less  earnest  to  disseminate  comfort,  exhortation, 
and  benefit  to  all  around  him  than  the  founder  of 
the  Sunday-schools.  The  children  now  began  to 
look  up  to  him  with  such  a  mixture  of  respect  and 
attention  as  endeared  them  to  him  and  interested 
him  still  more  and  more  in  their  welfare.  At  first 
they  were,  as  may  be  supposed,  utter  strangers  to 
the  common  forms  of  public  worship,  and  it  required 
some  time  to  drill  them  to  a  decent  observation 
even  of  the  outward  ceremonies  of  religion — I  mean, 
to  teach  them  to  kneel,  stand,  and  sit  down  in  the 
different  parts  of  the  service.  But  they  had  their 
eyes  fixed  on  their  commander-in-chief,  and  they 
borrowed  every  motion  from  him  before  they  could 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  reason  of  it. 

"  But  it  was  by  no  means  his  desire  or  inten- 
tion that  their  observances  of  the  Sabbath  should 
end  here.  To  prevent  their  running  about  in  wild 
disorder  through  the  streets  during  the  rest  of  the 
day  was  the  great  object  which  he  had  in  view,  and 
to  place  them  under  the  care  of  proper  persons  to 


44  Robert  Raikes. 


instruct  them  in  their  Christian  duty  was  the  pre- 
vailing object  of  his  wishes.  But  how  to  effect 
this,  and  whence  the  resources  were  to  arise,  ^  Hie 
Idbor^  hoc  opus* 

"  He  lost  no  time  in  communicating  his  ideas  to 
those  of  his  friends  who  were  as  sensible  of  the 
need  of  some  reform  in  this  respect  as  himself, 
and  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  was  speedily  raised 
to  procure  masters  and  mistresses  for  a  large 
number  of  children  of  both  sexes  to  be  educated 
in  the  principles  of  Christianity.  The  city  of 
Gloucester  soon  began  to  wear  a  very  different 
aspect  on  the  Lord's  day.  Instead  of  noise  and 
riot,  all  was  tranquility  and  peace ;  instead  of  quar- 
relling and  fighting,  as  heretofore,  all  was  concord 
and  harmony ;  instead  of  lying,  swearing,  and  all 
kinds  of  profligacy,  the  children  gradually  imbibed 
principles  of  honesty  and  truth,  of  modesty  and 
humility ;  instead  of  loitering  about  the  streets  in 
a  state  of  indolence  as  painful  to  the  observer  as 
it  was  to  themselves,  they  were,  now  seen  in  decent 
regularity  frequenting  the  places  of  public  worship, 
evidently  much  happier  in  themselves  than  in  their 
former  state  of  irreligious  idleness. 

"  The  labours  of  the  teachers  have  been  much 
assisted,  and  their  success  has  been  promoted,  by 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.     45 

the  unwearied  attention  of  Mr.  Raikes  to  these 
children  on  every  Sunday  morning.  When  the 
early  service  is  ended,  it  has  been  his  constant 
practice  to  enquire  minutely  into  their  conduct, 
and  even  to  inspect  their  persons,  to  reprove  such 
as  came  dirty  and  slovenly,  and  to  commend  those 
that  were  neat  and  decent,  however  homely,  in 
their  apparel.  The  distribution  of  little  rewards, 
and  the  slightest  expression  of  displeasure  from  the 
man  they  love,  has  each  its  proper  effect ;  and  even 
the  external  appearance  of  these  children  demon- 
strates their  advancement  not  less  in  civilization 
than  morality." 

Another  link  between  Raikes'  labours  in  prison 
and  school  has  been  placed  on  record  by  the 
daughter  of  a  Mr.  William  King,  a  woollen  card- 
maker  of  Dursley,  who  formed  a  Sunday-school 
in  his  native  town  some  time  before  Raikes' 
movement.  Mr.  King's  efforts  failed  for  want  of 
co-operation,  but  Mr.  King  himself  never  lost  faith 
in  the  plan.  The  manner  in  which  he  was  brought 
into  contact  with  Raikes  is  related  by  his  daughter, 
as  follows : — 

"  My  honoured  father,  Mr.  King,  being  on  business 
at  Painswick  one  Saturday,  was  informed  that  there 


46  Robert  Raikes. 


were  two  men  to  suffer  death  at  Gloucester.  Instead 
of  returning  home  to  Dursley,  his  strong  feeling  led 
him  to  Gloucester  to  try  if  he  could  see  and  converse 
with  them,  intending  to  spend  the  night  with  them, 
if  permitted,  but  the  keeper  of  the  prison  thought 
it  not  proper,  as  they  were  desperate  characters. 
He  abode  in  Gloucester  that  night,  and  next  morn- 
ing called  on  Mr.  Raikes.  Both  walked  together 
by  the  Island  (one  of  the  lowest  parts  of  the  city 
of  Gloucester),  where  were  many  boys  at  different 
sports.  My  father  said,  *  What  a  pity  the  Sabbath 
should  be  so  desecrated  ! '  Mr.  Raikes  answered, 
*  How  is  it  to  be  altered  ?  *  *  Sir,  open  a  Sunday- 
school,  as  I  have  opened  one  at  Dursley,  with  the 
help  of  a  faithful  journeyman ;  but  the  multitude  of 
business  prevents  me  from  spending  so  much  time 
in  it  as  I  could  wish,  as  I  feel  I  want  rest.'  Mr. 
Raikes  replied,  *  It  will  not  do  for  Dissenters  '  (as 
my  father  belonged  to  the  Tabernacle,  being  one 
of  the  Rev.  G.  Whitefield's  followers).  'Then,'  my 
father  answered,  '  Then,  why  not  the  Church  do  it  ?  * 
Mr.  Raikes  named  this  to  a  clergyman  of  the  name 
of  Stock,  who  paid  a  person  to  teach  a  few." 

Mr.  Raikes'  objection  to  the  scheme  being  origin- 
ated by  Dissenters  was  doubtless  prompted  by  the 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools,    47 

fear  that  if  it  became  identified  with  any  Noncon- 
formist body,  the  Established  Church,  blinded  by 
the  mistaken  prejudice  of  the  age,  would  refuse  to 
take  it  up.  Hence  he  was  desirous  that  the  system 
should  originate  with  the  Church,  knoAving,  doubt- 
less, that  its  evident  capabilities  for  good  would 
speedily  recommend  it  to  the  Nonconformists. 

In  the  prison  itself  Mr.  Raikes  would  find  ample 
evidence  of  the  direct  connection  between  igno- 
rance and  crime.  That  this  connection  did  not 
escape  his  notice  is  proved  by  numerous  references 
to  it  in  his  writings.  Here,  for  instance,  is  a  state- 
ment he  makes  about  a  young  man  who  was 
executed  at  the  gaol  for  housebreaking :  "  He  had 
never  received  the  smallest  instruction.  He  had 
never  offered  up  a  prayer  to  his  Creator.  He  said 
he  knew  not  how  to  pray.  He  was  totally  devoid 
of  all  sense  of  a  future  state." 

In  his  business  life,  required  as  he  was  to  keep 
himself  well  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  con- 
temporary society,  Raikes  could  not  fail  to  note 
that  the  neglected  state  of  the  juvenile  population 
was  one  of  the  most  alarming  evils  of  the  day. 
Very  few  of  the  children  of  the  poor  received  the 
benefits  of  any  education.  As  soon  as  they  were 
able  to  do  anything  they  were  put  to  work,  and  in 

4 


48  Robert  Raikes. 


heir  intervals  of  leisure,  of  which  Sunday  was  the 
chief,  they  were  left  altogether  without  restraint. 
"Ignorant,  profane,  filthy,  and  disorderly  in  the 
extreme,"  is  one  out  of  many  similar  descriptions 
which  Raikes  gives  of  the  children  he  saw  around 
him.  As  were  the  children,  so  were  the  parents. 
Said  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  in  1786  :  "  Our  houses 
cannot  secure  us  from  outrage,  nor  can  we  rest  mth 
safety  in  our  beds.  The  number  of  criminals  in- 
creases so  rapidly  that  our  gaols  are  unable  to  con- 
tain them,  and  the  magistrates  are  at  a  loss  how  to 
dispose  of  them.  Our  penal  code  is  already  suffi- 
ciently sanguinary,  and  our  executions  sufficiently 
numerous  to  strike  terror  into  the  populace;  yet 
they  have  not  hitherto  produced  any  material  alter- 
ation for  the  better,  and  were  they  multiplied  a 
hundredfold  they  would  probably  fail  of  the 
desired  effect." 

It  was  with  this  deplorable  state  of  things  that 
Raikes  set  himself  to  grapple.  Prepared,  as  he 
was,  by  his  previous  experience,  to  see  the  advan- 
tages likely  to  accrue  from  Sunday-schools,  it 
needed  some  more  immediate  impulse  to  bring 
him  to  the  definite  decision  of  founding  so  novel 
an  institution.  The  necessary  impulse  came,  as  he 
himself  tells  us,  by  accident.     The  following  is  the 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.    49 

account  which  he  gives  of  the  affair  in  a  letter  to 
Colonel  Townley,  of  Sheffield,  who  had  written  to 
the  then  Mayor  of  Gloucester  for  information  re- 
specting Sunday-schools  :— 

*  Gloucester,  November,  2$f^,  1783. 
"Sir, — My  friend  the  Mayor  has  just  commu- 
nicated to  me  the  letter  which  you  have  honoured 
him  with,  inquiring  into  the  nature  of  Sunday- 
schools.  The  beginning  of  this  scheme  was  en- 
tirely owing  to  accident.  Some  business  leading 
me  one  morning  into  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  where 
the  lowest  of  the  people  (who  are  principally 
employed  in  the  pin  manufactory)  chiefly  reside,  I 
was  struck  with  concern  at  seeing  a  group  of 
children,  wretchedly  ragged,  at  play  in  the  streets. 
I  asked  an  inhabitant  whether  those  children 
belonged  to  that  part  of  the  town,  and  lamented 
their  misery  and  idleness.  '  Ah !  sir,'  said  the 
woman  to  whom  I  was  speaking,  '  could  you  take  a 
view  of  this  part  of  the  town  on  a  Sunday,  you 
would  be  shocked  indeed;  for  then  the  street  is 
filled  with  multitudes  of  these  wretches,  who,  re- 
leased that  day  from  employment,  spend  their  time 
in  noise  and  riot,  playing  at  "  chuck,"  and  cursing 
and  swearing  in  a  manner  so  horrid  as  to  convey 


50  Robert  Raikes. 


to  any  serious  mind  an  idea  of  hell,  rather  than 
any  other  place.  We  have  a  worthy  clergyman/ 
(said  she)  *  curate  of  our  parish,  who  has  put  some 
of  them  to  school,  but  upon  the  Sabbath  they  are 
all  given  up  to  follow  their  own  inclinations  without 
restraint,  as  their  parents,  totally  abandoned  them- 
selves, have  no  idea  of  instilling  into  the  minds  of 
their  children  principles  to  which  they  themselves 
are  entire  strangers.' 

"  This  conversation  suggested  to  me  that  it 
would  be  at  least  a  harmless  attempt,  if  it  were 
productive  of  no  good,  should  some  little  plan  be 
formed  to  check  the  deplorable  profanation  of  the 
Sabbath.  I  then  enquired  of  the  woman  if  there 
were  any  decent,  well-disposed  women  in  the 
neighbourhood  who  kept  schools  for  teaching  to 
read.  I  presently  was  directed  to  four.  To  these 
I  appHed,  and  made  an  agreement  with  them  to 
receive  as  many  children  as  I  should  send  upon 
the  Sunday,  whom  they  were  to  instruct  in  reading 
and  in  the  Church  catechism.  For  this  I  engaged 
to  pay  them  each  a  shilling  for  their  day's  employ- 
ment. The  women  seemed  pleased  with  the  pro- 
posal. I  then  waited  on  the  clergyman  before 
mentioned  and  imparted  to  him  my  plan.  He 
was  so  much  satisfied  with  the  idea  that  he  engaged 


The  Estahlishment  of  Sunday  Schools.     5 1 

to  lend  his  assistance  by  going  round  to  the 
schools  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  to  examine  the 
progress  that  was  made  and  to  enforce  order  and 
decorum  among  such  a  set  of  little  heathens." 

In  a  letter  to  the  Armiman  Magazine,  dated 
June  5th,  1785,  Mr.  Raikes  gives,  somewhat  less 
in  detail,  the  same  account  of  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  established  his  first  school.  He 
says  : — 

"  I  have  not  had  leisure  to  give  the  public  an 
earlier  account  of  my  plan  for  a  reform  of  the 
rising  generation  by  establishing  schools  where 
poor  children  may  be  received  upon  the  Sunday 
and  there  engaged  in  learning  to  read  and  to  re- 
peat their  catechism  or  anything  else  that  may  be 
deemed  proper  to  open  their  minds  to  a  knowledge 
of  their  duty  to  God,  to  their  neighbours,  and 
themselves.  The  utility  of  an  establishment  of  this 
sort  was  first  suggested  by  a  group  of  miserable 
little  wretches  whom  I  observed  one  day  in  the 
street  where  many  people  employed  in  the  pin 
manufactory  reside.  I  was  expressing  my  concern 
to  one  at  their  forlorn  and  neglected  state,  and 
was  told  that  if  I  were  to  pass  through  that  street 
upon  Sundays  it  would  shock  me   indeed  to  see 


5  2  Robert  Raikes. 

the  crowds  of  children  who  were  spending  that 
sacred  day  in  noise  and  riot,  to  the  extreme 
annoyance  of  all  decent  people.  I  immediately 
determined  to  make  some  little  effort  to  remedy 
the  evil.  Having  found  four  persons  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  instruct  children  in  reading,  I 
engaged  to  pay  the  sum  they  required  for  receiving 
and  instructing  such  children  as  I  should  send  to 
them  every  Sunday.  The  children  were  to  come 
soon  after  ten  in  the  morning  and  stay  till  twelve ; 
they  were  then  to  go  home  and  return  at  one,  and 
after  reading  a  lesson  they  were  to  be  conducted  to 
church.  After  church  they  were  to  be  employed 
in  repeating  the  catechism  till  half  after  five,  and 
then  to  be  dismissed,  with  an  injunction  to  go 
home  without  making  a  noise,  and  by  no  means 
to  play  in  the  streets.  This  was  the  general  out- 
line of  the  regulations.  With  regard  to  the  parents 
I  went  round  to  remonstrate  with  them  on  the 
melancholy  consequences  that  must  ensue  from 
so  fatal  a  neglect  of  their  children's  morals.  They 
alleged  that  their  poverty  rendered  them  incapable 
of  cleaning  and  clothing  their  children  fit  to  appear 
either  at  school  or  at  church.  But  this  objection 
was  obviated  by  a  remark  that  if  they  were  clad  in 
a  garb  fit  to  appear  in  the  streets  I   should  not 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday  Schools.     5  3 

think  it  improper  for  a  school  calculated  to 
admit  the  poorest  and  most  neglected.  All  that 
I  required  were  clean  faces,  clean  hands,  and  the 
hair  combed.  In  other  respects  they  were  to  come 
as  their  circumstances  would  admit.  In  a  little 
time  the  people  perceived  the  advantage.  One  or 
two  clergymen  gave  their  assistance  by  going  round 
to  the  schools  on  the  Sunday  afternoon  to  hear 
the  children  their  catechism.  This  was  of  great 
consequence.  Another  clergyman  hears  them  their 
catechism  once  a  quarter  publicly  in  church,  and  re- 
wards their  good  behaviour  with  some  little  gratuity.'* 
The  scene  of  Raikes'  memorable  conversation 
with  the  woman,  as  narrated  in  his  letter  to  Colonel 
Townley,  is  supposed  to  have  been  an  open  space 
near  the  Severn,  in  one  of  the  lowest  parts  of 
Gloucester,  known  as  St.  Catherine's  meadows. 
Raikes'  errand  in  this  quarter  was,  we  are  told, 
to  hire  a  gardener.  The  man  whom  he  went  to 
engage  was  from  home,  and  it  was  while  waiting 
for  his  return  that  Raikes  had  the  momentous 
interview  with  the  woman  (the  man's  wife)  which 
finally  determined  him  to  take  action  for  the 
formation  of  Sunday-schools.  In  the  same  neigh- 
bourhood was  situated  the  pin  manufactory  of 
which  Raikes  speaks. 


54  Robert  Raikes. 


At  one  time  Gloucester  was  famous  for  its  pin- 
making,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  invention 
of  pins  was  due  to  the  ingenuity  of  an  inhabitant 
of  Gloucester,  named  Tilsby.  This  tradition  was 
incorporated  in  the  following  verse  composed  at 
Gloucester  by  Charles  Dibdin  : — 

"  The  ladies,  Heaven  bless  them  all  I 

As  sure  as  I've  a  nose  on, 
In  former  times  had  only  thorns 

And  skewers  to  stick  their  clothes  on. 
No  damsel  then  w^as  worth  a  pin, 

Whate'er  it  might  have  cost  her, 
Till  gentle  Johnny  Tilsby 

Invented  pins  in  Gloucester." 

The  art  of  nin-making  has  long  since  passed  away 
from  Gloucester,  but  in  Raikes'  day  it  was  one  of 
the  staple  industries  of  the  city,  and  afforded 
occupation  to  a  large  number  of  workers,  princi- 
pally children. 

The  clergyman  to  whom  Raikes  represents  him- 
self as  going  was  the  Rev.  Thomas  Stock,  at  that 
time  head-master  of  the  Cathedral  grammar  school 
Mr.  Stock  was  born  in  1750,  and  was  consequently 
Raikes'  junior  by  fifteen  years.  He  went  to 
Oxford  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  after  taking 
his  degree  of  M.A.  he  remained  for  some  years  as 


TJu  Establishment  of  Stmday  Schools.     5  5 

a  fellow  of  Pembroke  College.  The  first  scene 
of  his  ministrations  was  the  village  of  Ashbury,  in 
Berkshire,  where  he  was  accustomed  to  collect  the 
children  together  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  on 
Sundays  for  the  purpose  of  giving  them  religious 
instruction.  In  1777  he  was  appointed  head-master 
of  the  Gloucester  Cathedral  school  by  the  Dean 
and  Chapter.  In  the  following  year  the  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  presented  him  to  the  vicarage  of  Glas- 
bury,  in  the  diocese  of  St.  David's,  and  the  Bishop 
of  St.  David's  was  pleased  to  dispense  with  his 
residence  at  Glasbury  in  order  to  enable  him  to 
continue  the  care  of  his  school.  For  many  years, 
in  addition  to  the  mastership  of  the  Cathedral 
school,  he  held  two  important  livings  in  the 
city  of  Gloucester — the  rectory  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  the  perpetual  curacy  of  St.  Aldate. 
For  some  time,  probably  before  his  presentation 
to  these  livings,  he  was  curate  of  Hempstead,  a 
village  about  two  miles  from  Gloucester.  He  is 
described  by  one  of  his  contemporaries  as  "  a  man 
of  great  literary  attainments  and  most  exemplary 
conduct,  who  made  it  the  business  and  pleasure 
of  his  life  to  go  about  doing  good  by  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness  and  in  works  of  charity,  yet 
who  never  sought    the   applause    of  men."    The 


5^  Robert  Raikes. 


Gloucester  Journal,  recording  his  death  on  Decem- 
ber 27th,  1803,  sums  up  his  character  in  the  fol- 
lowing glowing  terms : — 

"  Possessed  with  sincere  and  ardent  piety,-  with 
fervent  and  active  charity — devout  and  impressive 
in  the  services  of  his  ministry — eloquent  and  ani- 
mated in  the  preaching  of  those  awful  truths  of 
which  diligent  investigation  had  convinced  his 
correct  and  learned  mind — attentive,  affecting, 
and  solacing  in  his  visitation  of  those  who  were 
sinking  under  the  weight  of  sickness  or  the  terror 
of  death — scrupulously  just  in  all  his  dealings — 
inoffensive,  kind,  and  cheerful  in  domestic  and 
social  life — he  mil  long  live  esteemed  and  lamented 
in  the  memories  of  his  parishioners,  his  acquain- 
tance, his  family,  and  his  friends." 

This  was  the  man  to  whom  Raikes,  at  the  very 
commencement  of  his  work,  appealed  for  counsel 
and  co-operation.  He  did  not  appeal  in  vain.  So 
thoroughly  did  Stock  enter  into  the  movement 
from  its  earliest  stages  that  he  appears  to  have 
had  almost  as  much  to  do  with  the  starting  of 
schools  in  Gloucester  as  Raikes  himself.  Some 
even  claim  for  him  the  credit  of  the  original  sug- 
gestion, which  they  say  was  communicated  by  him 
to  Raikes  and  carried  into  effect  by  the  combined 


The  Establishment  of  Siinday- schools.     57 

efforts  of  them  both.  Mr.  Stock's  own  account 
of  the  affair,  as  given  in  a  letter  to  a  provincial 
paper,  dated  February  2nd,  1788,  is  as  follows  : — 

"The  undertaking  originated  in  the  parish  of 
St.  John's,  in  this  city,  of  which  I  was  curate. 
The  fact  is  as  follows  :  Mr.  Raikes  meeting  me 
one  day  by  accident  at  my  door,  and,  in  the  course 
of  the  conversation,  lamenting  the  deplorable  state 
of  the  lower  classes  of  mankind,  took  particular 
notice  of  the  situation  of  the  poorer  children.  I 
had  made,  I  replied,  the  same  observation,  and 
told  him  if  he  would  accompany  me  into  my  own 
parish  we  would  make  some  attempt  to  remedy 
the  evil.  We  immediately  proceeded  to  the  busi- 
»'iess,  and,  procuring  the  names  of  about  ninety 
children,  placed  them  under  the  care  of  four  per- 
sons for  a  stated  number  of  hours  on  the  Sunday. 
As  minister  of  the  parish,  I  took  upon  me  the 
principal  superintendence  of  the  schools  and  one- 
third  of  the  expense.  The  progress  of  this  in 
stitution  through  the  kingdom  is  justly  attributed 
to  the  constant  representations  which  Mr.  Raikes 
made  in  his  own  paper  of  the  benefits  which  he 
perceived  would  probably  arise  from  it." 

It  does  not  appear  from  the  above  narrative 


5^  Robert  Raikes. 


that  Mr.  Stock  claimed  for  himself  the  credit  of 
first  suggesting  Sunday-schools  in  Gloucester :  he 
rather  seems  to  represent  Mr.  Raikes  and  him- 
self as  being  both  impressed  with  the  greatness  of 
the  evil,  both  recognising  Sabbath  instruction  as 
a  probable  remedy,  and  both  co-operating  in  an 
endeavour  to  try  the  experiment  in  practice.  This 
is  substantially  the  story  told  by  Raikes  in  his 
letter  to  Colonel  Townley.  The  discrepancies  on 
points  of  detail  between  the  two  accounts  may 
be  explained  by  supposing  that  Mr.  Raikes  had 
been  thinking  of  Sunday-schools,  and  had  taken 
some  steps  for  their  formation,  before  his  interview 
with  Mr.  Stock ;  and  that  Mr.  Stock,  having  had 
similar  thoughts,  expressed  them  at  this  interview, 
and  <hen  proceeded,  in  conjunction  with  Raikes, 
to  canvass  for  children  and  get  the  plan  into 
operation.  This  is  the  view  of  the  subject  taken 
by  many  competent  authorities,  including  the  Rev. 
Luke  Booker,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.L.,  vicar  of  Dudley, 
whose  work,  "The  Springs  of  Plynlimmon,"  printed 
in  1834,  contains  the  following  passage  : — 

"  Gloucester,  the  birthplace  and  cradle  of  Sun- 
day-schools, was  fortunate  in  possessing,  at  the 
birth  and  infancy  of  those  schools,  two  individuals 
admirably  fitted  by  Divine  providence  to  faster 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday-schools.     59 

and  train  to  maturity  the  novel  institution — the 
Rev.  Thomas  Stock,  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  Robert  Raikes,  Esq.  Having  been 
invited  to  advocate  the  cause  of  Sunday-schools, 
soon  after  their  establishment,  at  St.  Mary  de  Crypt 
Church  in  Gloucester,  few  persons  are  better  ac- 
quainted with  their  origin  and  originators  than 
myself.  That  being  Mr.  Raikes'  parish,  he  was 
at  church,  and  I  was  more  than  once  a  guest  at 
his  table.  I  also  knew  the  Rev.  T.  Stock,  and  I 
consider  it  a  circumstance  in  which  the  hand  of 
Divine  providence  was  discernible  that  Gloucester 
possessed  two  such  valuable  men  to  co-operate  in 
the  same  good  work  at  the  same  time;  for,  to 
promote  its  success,  that  they  were  'workers  to- 
gether \nth  God'  there  are  many  persons  like 
myself  still  alive  who  can  prove.  Which  of  the  two 
had  the  greater  portion  of  merit,  nan  nostrum  est 
tantas  componere  lites.  Although  exclusive  claims 
are  preferred  for  each  of  these  worthy  individuals,  1 
am  induced  from  what  I  know  to  say  of  them  both, 
et  vitulce  tu  dignus  et  hie" 

Some  of  Mr.  Stock's  friends,  however,  are  not  con- 
tent that  the  honour  of  founding  Sunday-schools 
in  Gloucester  should  be  shared  between  Raikes 
and  Stock:  they  claim  for  Stock  the  origination 


6o  Robert  Raikes. 


of  the  scheme,  and  allot  to  Raikes  to  participate 
only  in  the  work  of  carrying  the  idea  into  prac- 
tice. This  was  the  contention  of  Mr.  George  W. 
Counsell,  the  Gloucester  historian,  the  Rev.  Henry 
Wintle,  an  old  pupil  of  Stock's,  and  several  others. 
Mr.  Wintle's  version  of  the  interview  between 
Raikes  and  Stock  is  as  follows  ; — 

"  On  a  Sunday  evening  Mr.  Stock  met  Mr. 
Raikes  in  Hare-lane,  and  said  how  much  he  was 
hurt  at  seeing  the  children  so  desecrate  the  Sabbath 
by  their  sports  and  pastimes.  '  Mr.  Raikes,'  said 
he,  '  I  am  determined  to  have  a  school  for  them ; 
they  cannot  err  so  much  by  learning  to  read  and 
write  as  by  their  present  riotous  behaviour  and 
playing.'  After  a  few  days  Mr.  Raikes  (certainly 
a  well-disposed  man)  had  some  further  conversa- 
tion with  Mr.  Stock,  who  entered  more  into  detail 
respecting  his  plan.  It  was  then  agreed  that 
Mr.  Raikes,  who  was  wealthy,  should  supply 
three  parts  of  the  expense  of  the  school,  and  Mr 
Stock  the  remainder,  with  superintendence  and 
direction." 

It  would  be  profitless  to  enter  into  the  details  of 
the  controversy  raised  by  this  contention.  It  is  pos^ 
sible,  on  the  supposition  that  two  different  schools 
are  referred  to,  that  both  sides  may  to  some  extent 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday-schooLs.    61 

be  right.  The  supporters  of  the  claims  of  Stock 
point  as  the  result  of  his  suggestion  to  a  school  in 
St.  John's  parish ;  whereas  the  advocates  of  Raikes 
agree  in  fixing  upon  a  school  in  St.  Catherine's 
parish  as  the  consequence  of  his  conversation  with 
the  woman  in  St  Catherine's  meadow.  St  Cathe- 
rine's was  unquestionably  the  first  school  opened  in 
Gloucester :  and  it  is  for  suggesting  this  one  that 
Raikes  claims  credit.  Mr.  Stock  himself  speaks  of 
his  own  labours  as  being  in  the  parish  of  St.  John, 
and  he  doubtless  deserves  the  credit  of  originating 
the  Sunday-school  movement  there.  As  far  as  the 
testimony  of  contemporary  authorities  goes,  the 
weight  of  evidence  is  strongly  in  favour  of  Raikes' 
claim  to  the  title  of  "founder  of  Sunday-schools." 
No  question  is  made  respecting  it  in  the  following 
dedication  of  a  sermon  preached  in  1786  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Glasse,  at  Painswick,  and  afterwards  pub- 
lished by  request : — 

"  To  Mr.  Robert  Raikes,  of  the  city  of  Gloucester, 
an  instructor  of  the  ignorant,  and  a  father  to  the  poor; 
to  whose  piety  and  zeal,  in  the  first  institution  and 
subsequent  encouragement  of  Sunday-schools,  every 
friend  to  religion  is  indebted;  the  following  discourse, 
preached  at  his  request,  is  inscribed  as  a  token  of 
friendship,  approbation,  and  esteem  by  the  author." 


62  Robert  Raikes. 


Raikes  himself  was  present  while  this  sermon 
was  preached,  and  the  preacher  alluded  to  him  as 
follows  :  "  Of  the  original  author  of  these  excel- 
lent institutions,  I  forbear,  for  obvious  reasons,  to 
say  anything,  both  because  this  is  not  a  place  for 
language  which  might  bear  the  semblance  of  flattery, 
and  because  his  merit  in  this  good  work  is  beyond 
all  praise." 

The  foot-notes  to  this  sermon  mention  the  names 
of  several  distinguished  individuals  who  had  coun- 
tenanced and  promoted  Sunday-schools,  as,  for 
example,  the  Earl  of  Ducie,  the  Bishop  of  Chester, 
the  Dean  of  Canterbury,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hearne,  of 
Canterbury,  and  others ;  but  the  name  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Stock  is  in  no  way  referred  to.  Writing  in 
1786,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hearne,  of  Canterbury,  spoke  of 
Sunday-schools  as  "  the  institution  of  Mr.  Raikes, 
a  name  that  every  clergyman — especially  those  of 
his  own  city  and  neighbourhood — should  highly 
reverence."  In  the  same  year,  Jonas  Hanway,  the 
eminent  philanthropist,  attributed  the  institution  of 
Sunday-schools  to  "  the  humanity  and  jJious  hopes 
of  Mr.  Raikes."  Again,  in  1788,  a  writer  in  the 
Gentleman! s  Magazine  terms  kaikes  "  the  father  and 
founder  of  Sunday-schools."  In  the  same  year, 
the  Rev.  John  Berington,  in  an  essay  on  "The 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday-schools.     63 

Depravity  of  the  Nation,  with  a  View  to  the  Pro- 
motion of  Sunday-schools,"  speaks  of  Raikes  as 
"  a  patriotic  and  virtuous  citizen,  to  whom,  it  is  in 
my  hope,  the  present  generation  ^vill  raise  a  monu- 
ment of  gratitude  :  already  he  possesses  one  (and  I 
think  that  will  please  him  best)  in  the  breasts  of 
his  fellow-subjects.  I  speak  of  Mr.  Raikes,  of 
Gloucester,  who  first  proposed  and  realized  the 
scheme  of  Sunday-schools."  Many  other  instances 
might  be  given  to  show  that  the  origination  of 
Sunday  teaching,  as  a  national  system,  was  by  his 
conteiriporaries  ascribed,  almost  without  question, 
to  Robert  Raikes.  The  whole  controversy  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  words  of  the  late  Rev.  John 
Burder,  M.A.,  of  Stroud,  who  said:  "On  the 
whole,  I  see  no  cause  for  denying  to  Mr.  Raikes 
the  reputation  of  having  been  the  founder  of 
Sunday-schools ;  at  any  rate,  he  bears  to  that 
system  a  relation  very  similar  to  that  which  Dr. 
Jenner  bears  to  vaccination.  Before  Jenner's  time 
it  was  known  in  some  farm-houses  that  persons 
employed  in  milking  cows  did  not  take  the  small- 
pox when  that  grievous  malady  prevailed  around 
them ;  but  Jenner  was  the  man  who  not  only  gave 
publicity  to  the  fact,  but  also  ascertained  and  made 
known  to  Britain  and  the  world  what  steps  should 

5 


64  Robert  Raikes, 


be  adopted  in  order  to  render  vaccination  a  defence 
against  that  plague." 

It  was  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  King,  in  St 
"^  Catherine-street,  that  the  first  Gloucester  Sunday- 
school  was  started,  in  the  month  of  July,  1780. 
Mr.  King  was  at  that  time  steward  to  Mr.  Pitt,  who 
represented  Gloucester  in  Parliament  for  some  years. 
Prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  school,  Mr.  Raikes 
and  the  Rev.  T.  Stock  went  to  Mr.  King's  house, 
and  engaged  the  services  of  Mrs.  King  as  the  first 
teacher,  at  a  salary  of  is.  6d.  per  Sunday,  of  which 
sum  Mr.  Raikes  contributed  a  shiUing  and  Mr. 
Stock  sixpence.  Mrs.  King  continued  to  teach  for 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  she  died 
Her  husband  then  undertook  the  office  of  teacher, 
and  retained  it  for  many  years.  Among  the  me- 
mentoes of  his  work,  which  he  highly  prized,  was 
a  Bible  given  him  at  the  commencement  of  the  in- 
stitution, and  dated  July,  1780.  Mr.  King  lived 
to  be  eighty  years  of  age.  In  recording  his  death, 
in  1832,  the  Gloucester  Journal  speaks  of  him  as  a 
man  universally  respected,  a  kind  and  liberal  bene- 
factor to  the  poor,  and  a  Sunday-school  teacher  who 
discharged  his  duties  with  great  credit  and  useful- 
ness. The  second  school  was  established  by  Mr. 
Raikes  alone,  in  his  own  parish  of  St.  Mary  de 


The  Establishment  of  Sunday-schools,    65 

Crypt,  at  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Grey  Friars  and 
Southgate-street.  This  school  was  for  many  years 
taught  by  a  Mrs.  Sarah  Critchley,  who  lived  next 
door.  The  third  school  is  believed  to  have  been 
founded  by  Mr.  Stock,  in  the  parish  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  at  the  back  premises  of  103,  Northgate- 
street.  About  the  same  time  Mr.  Stock  started  a 
school  in  the  adjoining  parish  of  St.  Aldate,  and 
several  others  sprang  up  in  other  parts  of  the  city. 
Among  them  are  enumerated  a  school  in  Oxbody- 
lane,  taught  by  a  Mrs.  Brabant ;  one  in  St.  Aldate's- 
square,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Trickey,  the  sexton; 
one  in  Hare-lane;  and  one  in  Deacon-street,  in 
a  house  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  ^ 
ragged-school.  The  teachers  in  these  early  schools  t/ 
were  most  of  them  paid  for  their  labours  at  the 
rate  of  one  shilling  per  Sunday. 

If  all  the  circumstances  were  fully  known,  it 
would  doubtless  be  found  that  Raikes  and  Stock 
were  assisted  in  their  labours  by  many  like-minded 
fellow-workers.  The  names  of  two,  at  least,  may 
be  placed  on  record.  A  young  Methodist  lady, 
named  Sophia  Cooke  (who  afterwards  became  the 
wife  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Bradburn,  a  celebrated 
Wesleyan  preacher),  was  at  that  time  living  in 
Gloucester    with    her    uncle,   Alderman    Weaver. 


66  Robert  Raikes. 


Compassionating   the    condition  of  the  children 
employed  in  her    uncle's    pin    manufactory,   she 
formed  the  plan  of  gathering  them  together  on 
the  Sunday,  giving  them  instruction,  and  taking 
them  to  the  church  where  Mr.  Stock  preached. 
Both  Rallies  and  Stock  were  greatly  interested  in 
her  work,  and  she,  in  her  turn,  seems  to  have  ren- 
dered them  material  assistance  in  their  labours.     It 
is  said  that  she  marched  with  Robert  Raikes  at 
the  head  of  his  troop  of  ragged  urchins  on  the  first 
Sunday  they  were  taken  to   church.      Soon  after 
Raikes'  first  school  was  established  in  Gloucester, 
a  school  was  founded  at  Sheepscombe,  a  village 
about  five  miles  distant,  by  a  Mr.  S^amuel  Webb,  of 
Stroud.     A  poor  pious  man,  named  John  Twining, 
became  the  teacher,  and  continued  in  that  office 
for  forty-one  years,  during  which  time  he  received 
frequent  visits  from  Mr.  Raikes,  who  gave  him  a 
Bible  with  an  inscription  in  his  own  handwriting. 
In  1 841  Twining  was  still  living,  and  was  eighty- 
five  years   of  age.     As  the  oldest   Sunday-school 
teacher  living,  a  small  annuity  of  twenty  shillings 
was  granted  him  by    the    Stroud  Sunday-school 
Union. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SPREAD  OF  THE  MOVEMENT. 

'*  Once  by  the  river  side 
A  little  fountain  rose  ; 
Now  like  the  Severn's  seaward  tide 
Round  the  broad  world  it  flows. " 

— ^J.  Montgomery. 

IT  was  not  till  November  3rd,  1783,  or  more 
than  three  years  after  the  commencement  of 
his  first  school,  that  Raikes  made  the  Sunday- 
school  system  public  in  the  columns  of  his  news- 
paper. He  did  so  mthout  any  mention  of  his  own 
name,  and  without  in  any  way  attempting  to  claim 
credit  for  his  share  in  the  movement.  This  is  a 
significant  fact,  which  seems  to  have  been  over- 
looked by  those  who  would  attempt  to  represent 
him  as  vain-glorious  and  fond  of  praise.  Consider- 
ing the  part  which  he  had  taken  in  the  establish- 
ment of  Sunday-schools,  he  could  scarcely  have 
announced  the  scheme  in  more  modest  terms  than 
he  did     His  words  were  as  follows  : — 


6s  Robert  Raikes. 


"  Some  of  the  clergy  in  different  parts  of  this 
county,  bent  upon  attempting  a  reform  among  the 
children  of  the  lower  class,  are  establishing  Sunday- 
schools,  for  rendering  the  Lord's  day  subservient  to 
the  ends  of  instruction,  which  has  hitherto  been 
prostituted  to  bad  purposes.  Farmers,  and  other 
inhabitants  of  the  towns  and  villages,  complain  that 
they  receive  more  injury  to  their  property  on  the 
Sabbath  than  all  the  week  besides  :  this,  in  a  great 
measure,  proceeds  from  the  lawless  state  of  the 
younger  class,  who  are  allowed  to  run  wild  on  that 
day,  free  from  every  restraint.  To  remedy  this  evil, 
persons  duly  qualified  are  employed  to  instruct 
those  that  cannot  read ;  and  those  that  may  have 
learnt  to  read  are  taught  the  catechism  and  con- 
ducted to  church.  By  thus  keeping  their  minds 
engaged,  the  day  passes  profitably,  and  not  dis- 
agreeably. In  those  parishes  where  the  plan  has 
been  adopted,  we  are  assured  that  the  behaviour 
of  the  children  is  greatly  civilized.  The  barbarous 
ignorance  in  which  they  had  before  lived  being  in 
some  degree  dispelled,  they  begin  to  give  proofs 
that  those  persons  are  mistaken  who  consider  the 
lower  orders  of  mankind  incapable  of  improvement, 
and  therefore  think  an  attempt  to  reclaim  them 
impracticable,  or,  at  least,  not  worth  the  trouble." 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  69 

Six  months  later,  on  May  the  24th,  1784,  Raikes, 
in  his  editorial  capacity,  again  brought  the  move- 
ment under  public  notice,  and  again  we  find  him 
modestly  suppressing  his  own  name  and  assigning 
all  the  credit  to  the  clergy.     He  wrote : — 

"  Whilst  the  public-spirited  exertions  of  the  most 
distinguished  characters  in  our  county  are  medi- 
tating a  reform  of  the  police,  by  rendering  our 
prisons,  if  possible,  the  reverse  of  what  they  have 
hitherto  been — seminaries  of  every  species  of 
villainy  and  profligacy — several  of  the  clergy  in 
the  county  are  setting  forward  a  mode  of  general 
instruction  for  the  children  of  the  lower  class  of  the 
people  by  estabHshing  schools  for  their  reception 
on  Sundays,  a  day  upon  which  they  are  given  up 
to  follow  their  ^vild  and  vicious  inclinations  free 
from  restraint.  The  promoters  of  this  design  seem 
to  concur  in  the  idea  that  prevention  is  better  than 
punishment,  and  that  an  attempt  to  check  the 
growth  of  vice  at  an  early  period,  by  an  efl"ort  to 
introduce  good  habits  of  acting  and  thinking 
among  the  vulgar,  is,  at  least,  an  experiment  harm- 
less and  innocent,  however  fruitless  it  may  prove  in 
its  effects." 

From  that  date,  for  a  period  of  several  years, 
Raikes'   newspaper  teemed  with  notices  of  new 


70  Robert  Raikes. 


schools  and  testimonies  to  their  value.  Among 
others  we  read  that  at  Hempstead,  a  village  near 
Gloucester,  "  the  worthy  clergyman  "  (the  Rev.  T. 
Stock)  "has  established  a  Sunday-school  for  re- 
ceiving all  the  poor  children,  where  they  are  not 
only  kept  from  acts  of  mischief  and  roguery  on 
that  day,  but  their  time  is  employed  in  learning 
their  catechism  and  in  being  taught  to  read."  At 
Bisley,  we  are  informed,  "  the  children,  from  being 
savage  and  filthy  in  their  manners  and  appearance, 
are  now  become  decent,  orderly,  and  attentive  to 
cleanliness."  At  Painswick,  where  a  Sunday-school 
was  established  in  1784  by  Mr.  Webb,  in  1785 
(says  Raikes),  "  upwards  of  200  children  have  been 
taught  to  read,  but  that  which  far  more  strongly 
recommends  the  institution  is  the  singular  change 
in  the  manners  of  the  children.  Heretofore,  their 
lives  were  marked  with  brutality  and  profaneness ; 
but  now  there  prevails,  in  a  striking  degree,  a  sense 
of  subordination  and  of  due  respect  to  their  su- 
periors, quietness  and  decency  in  their  behaviour, 
and  an  attention  to  cleanliness  in  their  persons." 
Three  years  later,  Raikes  records  that  from  this 
same  school  at  Painswick  no  less  than  "200 
children  have  been  put  out  to  service,  and  they 
now  conduct  themselves  in  such  a  manner  as  to 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  71 

give  the  fullest  satisfaction  to  their  employers,  both 
with  respect  to  honesty,  industry,  and  behaviour." 
Among  many  other  places  in  Gloucestershire 
where  schools  were  established  before  the  close  of 
1784,  were  Badminton,  Didmarton,  Acton  Turville, 
Woodchester,  Stroud,  Stonehouse,  Nymphsfield, 
Tetbury,  and  Mitcheldean. 

One  speedy  result  of  the  spread  of  the  institution 
was  the  almost  total  suppression  of  Sunday  revel 
-and  wakes  throughout  the  county.  This  doubtless 
was  one  of  the  circumstances  which  induced  the 
Gloucestershire  magistrates,  at  the  Easter  Quarter 
Sessions  of  1786,  to  pass  a  unanimous  vote  to  the 
effect  that  "  the  benefit  of  Sunday-schools  to  the 
morals  of  the  rising  generation  is  too  evident  not 
to  merit  the  recognition  of  this  Bench  and  the 
thanks  of  the  community  to  the  gentlemen  instru- 
mental in  promoting  them."  Some  of  the  county 
magistrates  materially  aided  the  new  institution  by 
handing  over  to  the  funds  of  the  Sunday-schools 
all  fees  which  they  received  on  occasions  when 
they  acted  as  their  own  clerks.  The  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  also  gave  the  movement  the  benefit  of 
his  official  sanction.  At  his  visitation  at  Gloucester 
in  July,  1786,  he  said  "he  doubted  not  that  with 
proper  management,  and  under  the  inspection  of 


72  Robert  Raikes. 


the  parochial  clergy,  Sunday-schools  might  be  pro- 
ductive of  great  good  among  the  children  of  the 
poor  throughout  his  diocese."  This  was  a  state- 
ment the  Bishop  might  safely  venture  on.  Some 
of  the  good  results  of  the  first  schools  we  have 
already  incidentally  referred  to  :  here  is  Raikes' 
account  (published  May  24th,  1784)  of  what  they 
had  then  effected  in  Gloucester  : — 

"  The  good  effects  of  the  Sunday-schools  esta- 
blished in  this  city  are  instanced  in  the  account 
given  by  the  principal  persons  in  the  pin  and  sack 
manufactories.  Great  reformation  has  taken  place 
among  the  multitudes  whom  they  employ.  From 
being  idle,  ungovernable,  profligate,  and  filthy  in 
the  extreme,  they  say  the  boys  and  girls  are  be- 
come not  only  more  cleanly  and  decent  in  their 
appearance,  but  are  greatly  humanized  in  their 
manners,  more  orderly,  tractable,  and  attentive  to 
business,  and  of  course  more  serviceable  than  they 
\^  ever  expected  to  find  them.  Cursing  and  swearing, 
and  other  vile  expressions,  which  used  to  form  the 
sum  of  their  conversation,  are  now  very  rarely 
heard  among  them." 

Similar  beneficial  effects  were  observed  else- 
where. Lord  Ducie,  who  subsequently  became 
one   of   the  most   generous   patrons    of   Sunday- 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  73 

schools,  had  his  attention  first  directed  to  them  by 
the  reformation  noticeable  in  the  children  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Tortworth  Castle,  his  Gloucester- 
shire seat  Raikes  tells  the  story  of  his  lordship's  in- 
troduction to  Sunday-school  work  (omitting  names) 
in  the  follo\ving  terms  : — 

"  A  nobleman,  to  whom  a  title  and  large  estate 
in  this  county  lately  descended,  was  present  at  the 
parish  church  near  his  seat  a  few  Sundays  ago, 
where  he  saw  the  aisles  filled  with  a  great  number 
of  the  poorest  children  in  the  parish.  He  observed 
silence  and  good  order  prevail  among  them,  and 
that,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  instead  of  running 
promiscuously  and  hastily  out  of  church,  they  took 
their  ranks  and  walked  in  order  two  and  two  like  a 
disciplined  body  to  the  number  of  more  than  a 
hundred.  Inquiring  into  this  singular  regulation, 
he  learnt  that  Avith  the  view  to  keep  the  children 
out  of  mischief — to  which  the  Sunday  was  formerly 
entirely  devoted — the  minister  of  the  parish  as- 
sembled them  in  little  seminaries,  where  the  day 
was  spent  in  the  improvement  of  their  minds,  in 
learning  the  catechism,  and  in  attending  public 
worship.  His  lordship  inquired  how  far  their 
general  behaviour  was  affected  by  this  institution, 
and  expressed  great  pleasure  in  hearing  that  a 


74  Robert  Raikes. 


remarkable  alteration  in  their  conversation  and 
manners  had  been  the  result ;  nor  were  the  chil- 
dren alone  benefited,  for  the  parents  were  observed 
to  be  less  vile  and  profligate  since  attention  had. 
been  paid  to  the  improvement  of  the  children 
With  this  information  his  lordship  appeared  sensibly 
affected,  and  immediately  determined  to  give  the 
measure  all  possible  countenance  and  encourage- 
ment." 

Raikes  was  not  content  with  endeavours  to 
spread  the  institution  of  Sunday-schools  simply  in 
his  own  county.  His  aim  was  to  make  the  move- 
ment national.  At  that  time  his  newspaper  circu- 
lated far  beyond  the  limits  of  Gloucestershire,  and 
the  paragraphs  which  he  wrote  respecting  the  new 
institution  were  freely  copied  into  other  journals. 
Thus  the  attention  of  philanthropists  throughout  the 
kingdom  was  drawn  to  the  subject,  and  letters  came 
pouring  in  upon  "the  printer  of  the  Gloucestef 
/oumal"  from  all  parts,  asking  for  further  informa- 
tion. In  answering  these  letters  Raikes  generally 
detailed  the  mode  of  proceeding  in  the  original 
schools,  with  the  rules  adopted  for  their  conduct 
One  of  his  replies,  addressed  on  Nov.  25  th,  1783, 
to  Colonel  Townley,  of  Sheffield,  was  sent  to  the 
Gentleman! s  Magazine  by  a  Sheffield  correspondent, 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  7  5 

in  the  belief  that  "  Mr.  Urban  mil  think  the  follow- 
ing copy  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Raikes,  of  Gloucester, 
on  his  new  and  excellent  scheme  of  Sunday-schools, 
worth  preserving."  The  editor,  in  publishing  the 
letter,  added,  "  It  is  with  pleasure  we  give  place  to 
this  benevolent  plan,  which  promises  fair  to  transmit 
the  name  of  Mr.  Raikes  to  latest  posterity."  Addi- 
tional publicity  was  given  to  the  scheme  in  1785, 
by  the  publication  of  another  letter  from  Raikes  in 
the  Arminian  Magazine,  of  which  John  Wesley  was 
the  editor,  and  which  circulated  widely  among  the 
then  rapidly-increasing  "people  called  Methodists." 
The  European  Magazine  was  another  medium 
through  which  Raikes  brought  the  movement  into 
light. 

No  sooner  had  Raikes  thus  called  general  atten- 
tion to  his  scheme,  than  good  men  and  women,  far  \y^ 
and  wide,  began  to  adopt  it.  With  but  few  excep- 
tions its  merits  were  universally  recognised.  Adam 
Smith  said :  "  No  plan  has  promised  to  effect  a 
change  of  manners  with  equal  ease  and  simplicity 
since  the  days  of  the  Apostles."  The  poet  Co\vper 
declared  that  he  knew  no  nobler  means  by  which  a 
reformation  of  the  lower  classes  could  be  effected. 
John  Wesley  wrote  his  first  notice  of  Sunday-schools 
on  July  1 8th,  1784:  "I  find  these  schools  spring- 


76  Robert  Raikes. 


ing  up  wherever  I  go.  Perhaps  God  may  have  a 
deeper  end  therein  than  men  are  aware  of.  Who 
knows  but  some  of  these  schools  may  become 
nurseries  for  Christians?"  From  this  time  forth 
Wesley  continued  to  take  the  utmost  interest  in  the 
institution  of  Sunday-schools.  Writing  in  1787  to 
Richard  Rodda,  a  Cheshire  Methodist,  he  expressed 
his  belief  that  "these  schools  will  be  one  great 
means  of  reviving  religion  throughout  the  kingdom. 
I  wonder  Satan  has  not  sent  out  some  able  champion 
against  them."  Again,  in  1788,  he  said,  "  I  verily 
think  these  schools  are  one  of  the  noblest  speci- 
mens of  charity  which  have  been  set  on  foot  in 
England  since  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror." 

Dignitaries  of  the  Established  Church  spoke  in 
equally  warm  terms.  In  January,  1786,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Kay,  Almoner  to  the  Queen,  and  Archdeacon 
of  Nottingham,  delivered  a  charge  to  the  clergy  of 
his  archdeaconry  on  the  subject  of  Sunday-schools. 
After  deploring  the  depravity  of  the  age,  he  con 
tinned  thus  : — 

"  *  In  the  midst  of  judgment  God  has  remem- 
bered mercy,'  and  the  Divine  goodness  seems  to 
have  pointed  out  to  the  present  age  a  measure  so 
comprehensive  of  good,  so  peculiarly  extensive  in 
the  advantage  which  it  holds  out  to  society,  that  it 


The  Spread  of  tJie  Movement.  yy 

appears  formed  to  counteract  every  evil  propensity 
of  these  days,  and  to  prevent  them  from  being  in- 
jurious to  succeeding  generations ;  which  embraces 
^vithin  its  benevolent  arms  every  sect  of  Christianity, 
every  description  of  mankind.  The  measure  which 
appears  to  me  to  possess  this  invaluable  antidote  to 
the  poisonous  manners  of  this  depraved  age  is  the 
estabHshment  of  Sunday-schools.  The  power  and 
efficacy  of  these  institutions  reach  to  such  extent  of 
situation  and  of  numbers  as  no  other  mode  of  im- 
provement can  possibly  equal.  Having  anxiously 
watched  their  infancy  and  attended  to  their  progress, 
I  have  thought  their  principles  the  most  unequivocal, 
and  their  influence  the  most  extensive,  that  can  be 
employed  in  the  cause  of  general  reformation." 

In  May  of  the  same  year  (1786)  Bishop  Porteous, 
who  then  held  the  see  of  Chester,  delivered  an  im- 
portant episcopal  utterance  on  the  subject  in  the 
shape  of  a  charge  on  "  the  rise  and  progress  of 
Sunday-schools."  In  somewhat  cautious  terms  he 
spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  During  my  residence  at  Chester  last  summer, 
I  received  several  letters  from  clergymen,  both  in 
the  diocese  and  out  of  it,  respecting  these  schools. 
In  general,  I  was,  I  must  confess,  from  the  first 
disposed  to   approve   and   encourage    them,   and 


78  Robert  Raikes, 


accordingly,  as  far  as  private  correspondence  went, 
I  did  so.  But  as  they  were  then  quite  novel  insti- 
tutions, and  some  persons  of  worth  and  judgment 
had,  I  found,  their  doubts  and  apprehensions  con- 
cerning them,  I  thought  it  prudent,  before  I  went 
further,  to  wait  a  little,  till  time  and  experience  and 
more  accurate  inquiry  had  enabled  me  to  form  a 
more  decided  judgment  of  their  real  value  and  their 
probable  effects.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  in- 
formation I  have  of  late  received  concerning  them 
from  various  quarters  (but  especially  from  the  great 
manufacturing  towns  in  my  diocese),  has  confirmed 
the  favourable  opinion  I  was  originally  inclined  to 
entertain  of  them.  At  the  same  time,  they  are  not, 
I  am  convinced,  to  be  adopted  \vithout  some  quali- 
fications and  restrictions." 

The  "  qualifications  and  restrictions  "  referred  to 
by  the  Bishop,  he  explains  to  be  care  on  the  part  of 
the  clergy  as  to  the  character  of  the  teachers  and 
of  the  books  used  in  the  schools,  and  the  utmost 
caution  not  to  make  Sunday  a  day  of  rigour,  but 
to  maintain  it  as  a  day  of  pleasant  rest  by  allow- 
ing the  scholars  "  sufficient  time  for  cheerful  con- 
versation and  free  intercourse  with  each  other,  and, 
above  all,  for  enjoying  the  fresh  and  wholesome  air 
and  sunshine  in  the  fields  or  gardens  with  their 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement,  79 

relations  or  friends."  "With  these  limitations  and 
precautions,"  continued  Bishop  Porteous,  "  I  have 
no  doubt  Sunday-schools  may  be  productive  of 
the  best  consequences."  In  recommending  his 
clergy  to  establish  them,  he  said  :  "  The  next  gene- 
ration, if  not  the  present,  will  probably,  in  conse- 
quence of  these  benevolent  exertions  of  yours, 
perceive  an  astonishing  change  in  the  manners  of 
the  common  people.  And  they  who  live  to  see  so 
desirable  a  reformation,  will  not,  I  trust,  forget  (most 
assuredly  your  Heavenly  Father  mil  not  forget)  to 
whose  kindness  and  to  whose  labours  they  stand 
indebted  for  such  substantial  benefits." 

Even  at  the  time  Bishop  Porteous  spoke,  some  of 
the  benefits  of  Sunday-schools  were  already  known 
to  him.  In  his  charge  of  1786  he  testified  to  their 
value  as  follows  : — 

"  In  some  places  in  the  diocese  of  Chester  they 
have  been  established  near  two  years,  and  in  this 
space  of  time  their  good  influence,  I  am  assured, 
has  been  very  apparent.  A  visible  alteration  for 
the  better  has  taken  place  in  the  appearance  and 
conduct  of  the  children.  They  are  now  become 
more  cleanly  in  their  persons  and  dress,  and  more 
decent  and  orderly  in  their  behaviour  both  on 
the    Lord's-day   and    on  other  days.      Many  of 

6 


8o  Robert  Raikes. 


them,  who  did  not  so  much  as  know  their  alphabet, 
can  now  read  tolerably  well,  can  repeat  and  seem 
to  comprehend  their  catechism,  and  make  a  good 
use  of  their  Bibles  and  prayer-books.  And,  what 
is  a  very  material  circumstance,  a  sense  of  virtue 
and  religion  has  manifestly  communicated  itself 
from  the  children  to  many  of  the  parents." 

The  Bishop  of  Salisbury  also  advocated  Sunday- 
schools  at  this  early  period  of  their  history,  and 
drew  up  a   series  of  regulations  for  the  schools 
established  in  his  diocese.     A  few  years  later  (in 
1789),  Shute,  Lord  Bishop  of  Sarum,  recommended 
\        to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  the  universal  establish- 
\     ment  of  Sunday-schools,  and  stated  that  there  were 
\  already  no  less  than  300,000  scholars  in  Sunday- 
schools  throughout  the   kingdom.     This  estimate 
was  probably  under,  rather  than  over,  the  mark. 
As  early  as  1785,  we  learn  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Glasse, 
yiimself  a  personal  friend  of  Raikes,  that  250,000 
children  were  at  school,  and  that  the  system,  having 
already  been  extended  to  Ireland,  was  about  to  be 
introduced  into  the  Colonies.     Dr.  Glasse's  words 
are  as  follows  : — 

"It  is  needless  to  observe  how  happily  Mr. 
Raikes'  ideas  have  met  the  public  approbation, 
and  how  generally  his   excellent  plan  has    been 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement, 


adcTpted  and  encouraged.  Some  few  persons  have 
looked  upon  it  with  coldness  and  disregard;  still 
fewer  have  ventured  to  oppose  and  object  to  it. 
The  former,  we  venture  to  pronounce,  have  mis- 
conceived the  nature  and  design  of  the  institution. 
The  latter  are  advocates  for  a  slavish  subjection  in 
the  poor,  which  they  know  will  be  best  favoured 
by  keeping  them  in  a  state  of  abject  ignorance.  I 
wiH  not  go  so  far  as  to  suppose  any  one  that  calls 
himself  a  Christian  capable  of  envying  the  advance- 
ment of  religion,  which  certainly  may  be  expected 
from  these  endeavours  to  instruct  the  children  of 
the  poor.  It  is  now  a  period  of  four  years  since 
this  institution  was  first  set  on  foot,  and  this  *  grain 
of  mustard  seed '  is  now  gro^vn  to  suoh  an  incre- 
dible extent  that  under  its  shadow  not  fewer  than 
250,000  of  our  poor  fellow  Christians  are  sheltered 
and  protected.  From  this  spark,  excited  by  the 
zeal,  and  supported  by  the  indefatigable  exertion 
of  a  worthy  individual,  such  a  flame  of  piety  and 
charity  has  been  kindled  as  diffuses  its  brightness 
through  our  own  and  a  neighbouring  kingdom,  and 
is  even  about  to  extend  itself  to  our  settlements  in 
distant  countries,  comprehending  all  descriptions 
of  the  poor,  and  affording  a  most  delightful  pros- 
pect to  every  serious  mind  of  a  national  reformation 


82  Robert  Raikes. 

of  manners  among  the  lowest  orders  of  the 
people." 

Among  Robert  Raikes'  friends  was  an  eminent 
London  printer,  John  Nichols  by  name,  who  printed 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  and  to  him,  in  1787,  Mr. 
Raikes  wrote  as  follows  : — 

"It  is  incredible  with  what  rapidity  this  'grain 
of  mustard  seed'  has  extended  its  branches  over 
the  nation.  The  third  of  this  month  (November) 
completes  four  years  since  I  first  mentioned  the 
expediency  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  Gloucester 
Journal,  and  by  the  best  information  I  am  assured 
that  the  number  of  poor  children  who  were  hereto- 
fore as  neglected  as  the  wild  ass's  colt,  but  who  are 
now  taken  into  these  Httle  seminaries  of  instruction, 
amQunts  to  250,000.  In  the  town  of  Manchester 
alone  the  schools  contain  5,000.  It  would  delight 
you  to  observe  the  cheerfulness  with  which  the 
children  attend  on  the  Sunday.  A  woman  told 
me  last  Sunday  that  her  boy  enquires  of  her  every 
night  before  he  goes  to  bed  whether  he  has  done 
anything  in  the  day  that  will  furnish  a  complai^it 
against  him  on  Sunday.  You  see,  sir,  to  what  care 
and  vigilance  this  may  lead." 

Though  the  above  letter  was  intended  by  Mr. 
Raikes  simply  as  a  private  communication  to  his 


The  Spread  of  the  Moveme7it.  ^i 

friend  Nichols,  the  printer,  the  editor  of  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  pubHshed  it  for  the  benefit 
of  his  readers,  mth  the  remark  that  "  Mr.  Raikes' 
own  good  heart  \vill  pardon  our  thus  divulging 
it."  It  is  evident  from  the  many  references  made 
by  different  correspondents  to  Mr.  Raikes,  that  his 
name  was  directly  associated  in  the  popular  mind 
mth  the  origin  of  Sunday-schools,  although  in  his 
own  paper  he  had  ever  suppressed  all  reference  to 
himself  Some  of  the  laudations  passed  upon  him 
by  his  admirers  are  somewhat  high-flown.  Here 
is  one'  from  a  correspondent  of  the  Gefitle?}ian's 
Magazine  in  1788  : — 

"What  a  spiritual  'continual  feast*  must  the 
respectable  father  and  founder  of  Sunday-schools, 
an  old  acquaintance,  Mr.  Raikes,  enjoy !  observing 
that  the  work  of  piety  and  charity  which  he  so 
well  and  happily  first  began  at  Gloucester  has  in 
like  manner  been  carried  on  and  continued  by  very 
considerable  persons,  by  the  very  best,  in  many,  if 
not  most,  parts  of  the  kingdom,  so  that  the  Divine 
pleasure  hath  '  prospered  in  his  hand.'  Messiah- 
like (whom  we  should  all  strive  to  imitate)  may  he 
more  and  more  see  *  the  [blessed  effects  of  the] 
travel  (sic)  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied.*  Mr. 
Raikes  was  highly  satisfied  and  luxuriously  enter 


84  Robert  Raikes. 


tained  last  year  at  New  Brentford  in  seeing  num 
bers  of  poor  children  so  decent,  orderly,  and  in- 
telligent, religiously  educated  in  his  own  way,  to 
whom  he  bountifully  presented  Bibles.  The  worthy 
Mrs.  Trimmer  (justly  honoured  with  royal  appro- 
bation), assisted  by  her  family,  very  diligently  and 
successfully  teaches  and  manages  hundreds  of  them, 
who  make  a  most  comfortable  and  creditable  appear- 
ance on  the  Lord's-day  in  the  chapel.  Her  much- 
esteemed  publications  may  improve  and  edify 
thousands  elsewhere." 

While  visiting  some  relations  at  Windsor,  probably 
about  Christmas  1787,  Mr  Raikes  had  the  honour 
of  introducing  his  institution  to  the  Queen.  Hear- 
ing that  he  was  in  the  neighbourhood.  Her  Majesty 
sent  for  him,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  know  "  by 
what  accident  a  thought  which  promised  so  much 
benefit  to  the  lower  order  of  people  as  the  institution 
of  Sunday-schools  was  suggested  to  his  mind,  and 
what  effects  were  observable  in  consequence  on  the 
manners  of  the  poor."  The  conversation  which 
ensued  lasted  more  than  an  hour.  Raikes,  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  invariable  habit  of  keeping  his 
own  name  out  of  print,  makes  no  mention  of  this 
memorable   interview  in  his    newspaper,  but  he 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  85 

■briefly  refers  to  it  in  the  following  letter  to  the  Rev. 
Bowen  Thickens,  of  Ross : — 

*'June2']th,  1788. 
"  I  rejoice  to  hear  that  Sunday-schools  are  pro- 
ducing the  same  happy  effects  with  you  that  are 
springing  up  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  when  the 
high  ranks  of  people  ^vill  condescend  to  overlook 
the  management.  At  Windsor,  the  ladies  of  fashion 
pass  their  Sundays  in  teaching  the  poorest  children. 
The  Queen  sent  for  me  the  other  day  to  give  Her 
Majesty  an  account  of  the  effects  observable  on 
the  manners  of  the  poor,  and  Her  Majesty  most 
graciously  said  that  she  envied  those  who  had  the 
power  of  doing  good  by  thus  personally  promoting 
the  welfare  of  society  in  giving  instruction  and 
morality  to  the  general  mass  of  the  common  people, 
a  pleasure  from  which  by  her  position  she  was 
debarred.  Were  this  known  to  the  ladies  of  the 
British  nation  it  woul  J  serve  to  animate  them  ^^^th 
zeal  to  follow  in  the  example  which  the  Queen  is  so 
desirous  to  set  before  them.  You  may  mention  it 
to  the  ladies  of  Ross,  who  ^vill  not  then  perhaps 
be  above  noticing  the  children  of  their  poor  neigh- 
bours, if  they  are  present" 


86  Robert  Raikes. 


After  this  interview  Queen  Charlotte  ever  took  a 
lively  interest  in  Sunday-schools.  Mrs.  Trimmer, 
whose  schools  at  Brentford  Raikes  had  visited, 
was  a  great  favourite  at  the  Palace,  and  with  her 
the  Queen  conferred  respecting  the  possibility  of 
establishing  Sunday-schools  in  Windsor.  In  her 
journal  Mrs.  Trimmer  writes  :  "  I  have  this  day  had 
the  unexpected  honour  of  attending  Her  Majesty, 
and  had  inexpressible  pleasure  in  her  sensible, 
humane,  and  truly  Christian  conversation.  May 
her  pious  design  of  establishing  Sunday-schools  at 
Windsor  be  put  in  execution."  Again,  writing  to 
a  friend,  Mrs.  Trimmer  says  :  "  Some  time  in  last 
autumn  I  received  a  message  from  the  Queen 
desiring  me  to  attend  her  at  a  certain  hour.  I 
accordingly  waited  on  Her  Majesty,  who  received 
me  with  the  most  condescending  kindness,  told  me 
she  had  heard  of  the  success  of  the  schools  under 
my  inspection,  and,  being  very  anxious  for  their 
establishment  at  Windsor,  desired  to  have  informa- 
tion from  me  on  the  subject.  I  was  honoured 
with  a  conference  of  about  two  hours.  It  is 
impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  charming  manner 
in  which  the  Queen  expressed  the  most  bene- 
volent sentiments  and  the  tenderest  regard  for 
the  happiness  of  the  poor." 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  87 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  King  himself  visited  the 
Schools  of  Industry  at  Brentford,  and  won  the 
hearts  of  all  the  children  by  his  condescending 
behaviour.  The  promoters  of  Sunday-schools 
were  much  encouraged  by  these  marks  of  royal 
favour.  "  General  joy,"  WTote  Mrs.  Trimmer,  "  pre- 
vails among  the  conductors  of  Sunday-schools." 

Mrs.  Trimmer  was  not  the  only  authoress  who 
supported  the  new  institution.  In  her  Somerset- 
shire home  on  the  Mendip  Hills,  Hannah  More 
had  long  lamented  the  ignorance  of  the  lower 
classes,  and  in  1789  she  endeavoured  to  enlighten 
them  by  means  of  a  Sunday-school.  Prior  to  start- 
ing her  school  she  made  a  house-to-house  visitation 
through  the  village,  of  which  she  says  :  "  We  found 
every  house  a  scene  of  the  greatest  ignorance  and 
vice :  we  saw  but  one  Bible  in  all  the  parish,  and 
that  was  used  to  prop  a  flower-pot."  In  five  years' 
time  there  were  in  regular  attendance  at  the 
schools  established  by  Hannah  More  in  this 
country  district  no  less  than  200  children  and 
200  adult  scholars. 

A  few  other  details,  culled  from  Raikes'  news- 
paper and  other  contemporary  records,  may  serve 
to  illustrate  more  forcibly  the  rapid  spread  of  the 
new  institution.     At  Leeds,  in  1784,  within  a  year 


88  Robert  Raikes, 


of  the  first  promulgation  of  the  scheme  in  the 
Gloucester  Journal,  there  were  twenty-six  schools 
and  2,000  scholars,  taught  by  forty-five  masters. 
By  the  next  year  Manchester  had  no  less  than 
2,836  of  its  children  under  Sabbath  instruction, 
'•'and"  (says  the  record)  "  such  a  general  conversion 
of  manners,  such  a  change  from  noise,  profaneness, 
and  vice  to  quietness,  decency,  and  order,  was 
never  seen  in  any  former  period,  and  was  not  con- 
ceived practicable  till  this  institution  took  place." 
In  his  chronicles  of  the  times  Raikes  incidentally 
mentions  some  curious  regulations  in  force  in 
Manchester  for  enforcing  Sabbath  observance.  On 
the  authority  of  a  Manchester  gentleman  who 
visited  him  in  1784,  he  states  that  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  that  town,  at- 
tended by  the  churchwardens  and  police  officers, 
to  go  out  of  the  church  while  the  first  lesson 
was  being  read,  and  to  compel  all  persons  found  in 
the  streets  to  come  into  church  or  to  pay  a  fine, 
which  in  the  case  of  persons  of  the  lower  class  was 
fixed  at  one  shilling,  and  for  those  of  higher  rank 
half-a-crown.  The  Bishop  of  Chester,  in  the 
charge  already  quoted,  bore  testimony  to  the 
establishment  of  Sunday-schools  in  his  diocese  as 
early  as  1784.     In  the  city  of  Chester,  six  disciples 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement. 


of  John  Wesley,  led  by  one  Richard  Rodda,  are 
said  to  have  started  the  first  school.  They  sub- 
mitted their  rules  to  the  Bishop,  and  gained  his 
entire  approval.  Another  Methodist  school  was 
at  Bolton,  where  it  was  founded  in  1785.  It  is 
remarkable  as  being  one  of  the  earhest  schools 
at  which  the  masters  gave  their  services  without 
payment.  Respecting  the  musical  capacities  of  its 
scholars  Wesley  ^vrote  in  1788:  "This  I  must 
avow :  there  is  not  such  another  set  of  singers  in 
any  of  the  Methodist  congregations  in  the  three 
kingdoms  as  there  is  at  Bolton.  There  cannot  be, 
for  we  have  near  a  hundred  such  trebles — boys 
and  girls  selected  out  of  the  Sunday-schools  and 
accurately  taught — as  are  not  to  be  found  together 
in  any  chapel,  cathedral,  or  music-room  within  the 
four  seas.  Besides  that,  the  spirit  with  which  they 
all  sing,  and  the  beauty  c^  so  many  of  them,  so 
suits  the  melody  that  I  defy  anything  to  exceed  it 
except  the  singing  of  the  angels  in  our  Father's 
house."  Inspired  by  Wesley's  recommendations, 
the  Methodists  largely  adopted  the  new  institu- 
tion at  an  early  period  of  its  history.  Pleasing 
records  may  be  found  of  the  manner  in  which 
other  voluntary  Churches  joined  \\ith  the  Esta- 
blished   Church    in    promoting  the  good    work. 


90  Robert  Raikes. 


Anxious  as  Raikes  is  said  to  have  been  that  the 
foundation  of  the  Sunday-school  system  should  be 
laid  by  the  Church  of  England,  he  readily  recog- 
nised the  aid  which  Nonconformists  gave  in  raising 
the  superstructure.  For  instance,  in  chronicling  the 
establishment  in  1786  of  three  schools  at  Witney, 
he  says :  "  The  Dissenters  of  every  denomination 
were  assiduous  in  their  co-operating  aid  to  give 
vigour  and  permanency  to  this  institution."  In 
London  the  first  school  is  said  to  have  been  esta- 
blished about  the  year  1784,  in  connection  with  the 
Rev.  Rowland  Hill's  congregation  at  Surrey  Chapel. 
Among  Raikes'  friends  and  fellow-workers  was  a 
gentleman  named  William  Fox,  to  whose  eiforts 
was  due  the  formation  in  1785  of  the  first  Sunday- 
school  Society  Mr.  Fox's  history  was  a  remark- 
able one.  He  was  born  in  1736,  of  somewhat 
humble  parentage,  in  a  Gloucestershire  village, 
and  in  his  boyhood  was  employed  to  scare  birds 
on  his  brother's  farm.  While  there  he  formed  the 
resolution  of  ultimately  purchasing  the  farm ;  and 
in  after  life  he  not  only  fulfilled  this  resolution, 
but  also  became  lord  of  the  manor  of  his  native 
village.  He  acquired  his  wealth  by  trade.  Be- 
ginning as  an  apprentice  to  a  draper  at  Oxford,  he 
succeeded  to  his  master's  business,  which  flourished 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  g  i 

greatly  under  his  care,  though  his  master  predicted 
that  the  conscientious  manner  in  which  he  con- 
ducted it  would  assuredly  never  pay.  From  a  retail 
shop-keeper  in  Oxford,  Fox  grew  to  be  a  whole- 
sale merchant  in  London.  In  all  his  prosperity, 
however,  he  never  forgot  his  Gloucestershire  home. 
Feehng  deeply  interested  in  the  education  of  the 
poor,  he  opened  a  school  at  his  own  expense  in  the 
village  of  Clapton,  Gloucestershire;  but  he  found 
it  impossible  to  give  daily  instruction  to  a  circle 
sufficiently  extended  to  satisfy  his  desires.  Hence 
he  caught  eagerly  at  the  idea  of  instruction  on  the 
Sabbath  as  a  means  by  which  he  might  accomplish 
the  great  end  he  had  in  view — "  that  every  person 
in  the  world  might  be  taught  to  read  the  Bible." 
At  first,  however,  he  feared  that  instruction  one 
day  in  seven  would  be  insufficient  to  teach  chil- 
dren to  read,  and  he  communicated  his  appre- 
hensions in  a  letter  to  Raikes,  at  the  same  time 
propounding  to  him  a  scheme  for  the  formation 
of  a  Sunday-school  Society.  Raikes'  reply  was  as 
follows ; — 

"Gloucester,  yuneioth,  1785. 
"  Sir, — ^You  very  justly  suppose  that  an  apology 
was  utterly  unnecessary  for  a  letter  like  yours. 


92  Robert  Raikes. 


I  am  full  of  admiration  at  the  great  and  noble 
design  of  the  society  you  speak  of  as  forming.  If 
it  were  possible  that  my  poor  abilities  could  be 
rendered  in  any  degree  useful  to  you,  point  out  the 
object,  and  you  will  not  find  me  inactive.  Allow 
me  to  refer  you  to  a  letter  I  Avrote  a  week  ago  to 
Jonas  Hanway,  Esq.,  upon  the  subject  of  Sunday- 
schools.  If  you  ask  him  for  a  sight  of  it,  I  dare- 
say he  will  lend  it  to  you.  With  respect  to  the 
possibility  of  teaching  children  by  the  attendance 
they  can  give  upon  the  Sunday,  I  thought  with 
you,  in  my  first  onset,  that  little  was  to  be  gained ; 
but  I  now  find  that  it  has  suggested  to  the  parents 
that  the  little  progress  made  on  the  Sunday  might 
be  improved,  and  they  have  therefore  engaged  to 
give  the  teachers  a  penny  a  week  to  take  the  chil- 
dren once  or  twice  a  day  during  the  recess  from 
work  at  dinner-time  or  morning,  to  take  a  lesson 
every  day  in  the  week.  To  one  of  my  teachers 
who  lives  in  the  worst  part  of  our  suburbs  I  allow 
two  shillings  a  week  extra  (besides  the  shilling  I 
give  her  for  the  Sunday  employ),  to  let  as  many  of 
them  as  are  willing  come  to  read  in  this  manner. 
I  see  admirable  effects  from  this  addition  to  my 
scheme.  I  find  the  mothers  of  the  children  and 
grown-up  young  women  have  begged  to  be  admitted 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  93 

to  partake  of  this  benefit.  Sorry  I  am  to  say  that 
none  of  the  other  sex  have  shown  the  same  desire. 
A  clergyman  from  Painswick  called  upon  me  this 
afternoon  and  expressed  his  surprise  at  the  progress 
made  there.  Many  boys  now  can  read  who  certainly 
have  no  other  opportunity  than  what  they  derive 
from  their  Sunday  instruction.  This  he  assured 
me  was  a  fact,  but  I  think  they  must  have  applied 
themselves  at  their  homes.  I  hear  that  the  people 
of  the  Forest  of  Dean  have  begun  to  set  this 
machine  in  motion  among  the  children  of  the 
colliers,  a  most  savage  race.  A  person  from 
Mitcheldean  called  upon  me  to  report  the  progress 
of  the  undertaking,  and  observed,  *  We  have  many 
children  who  three  months  ago  knew  not  a  letter 
from  a  cart  wheel '  (that  was  his  expression)  *  who 
can  now  repeat  hymns  in  a  manner  that  would 
astonish  you.' " 

After  receiving  this  letter  from  one  so  well  able 
to  speak  upon  the  subject  Fox  hesitated  no  longer. 
Aided  by  Mr.  Jonas  Hanway,  Mr.  Henry  Thorn- 
ton, Mr.  Samuel  Hoare,  and  others,  he  organized, 
in  August,  1785,  the  "  Society  for  the  Establishment 
and  Support  of  Sunday-schools  throughout  the  king- 
dom of  Great  Britain."    At  the  first  meeting  of  the 


94  Robert  Raikes. 


Society  a  letter  was  read  from  Robert  Raikes,  and 
Thomas  Raikes,  who  lived  in  London,  was  appointed 
on  the  committee.  At  the  following  meeting,  in 
1786,  another  letter  from  Robert  Raikes  was  read, 
describing  the  success  of  Sunday-schools  at  Pains- 
wick  ;  and  of  this  letter  1,000  copies  were  ordered 
to  be  printed  for  distribution  among  the  newspapers 
and  the  subscribers  to  the  Society.  At  the  same 
time  the  thanks  of  the  Society  were  voted  to  Mr. 
Raikes  for  his  communication.  At  the  general 
meeting  of  the  Society  in  July  1787,  there  was 
unanimously  adopted  the  following  recommenda- 
tion, which  serves  as  another  proof  that  at  that 
time  Raikes'  claim  to  be  considered  the  founder 
of  the  Sunday-school  system  was  unquestioned : 
"Your  committee,  taking  into  consideration  the 
humble  zeal  and  merits  of  Robert  Raikes,  Esq., 
of  Gloucester,  who  may  justly  be  considered  as  the 
original  founder  as  well  as  the  liberal  promoter 
of  Sunday-schools,  beg  leave  to  recommend  to 
the  general  meeting  that  he  be  chosen  as  an 
honorary  member  of  this  Society."  The  work  done 
by  the  Society  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
^  ""'  before  it  had  been  in  existence  a  year  it  had  founded 
'  ''  five  schools  in  London,  and  by  1795  it  ^^^  dis- 
tributed 91,915  spelling-books,  24,232  Testaments, 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement  95 

and  5,360  Bibles,  which  had  been  applied  for  for 
use  in  1,012  schools  containing  about  65,000 
scholars.  With  its  founder,  Mr.  William  Fox, 
Raikes  continued  to  preserve  relations  of  mutua. 
esteem.  The  following  letter,  written  by  Raikes  in 
answer  to  a  narrative  sent  to  him  by  Mr.  Fox  of 
a  school  celebration  at  Colchester,  will  serve  to 
show  the  regard  in  which  Raikes  held  his  fellow- 
worker  : — 

"Gloucester,  Jttly  2'jth,  1787. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  regret  that  the  variety  of  my 
business  engagements  when  I  was  last  in  to^vn  pre- 
vented me  from  devoting  an  afternoon  to  the  en- 
joyment of  your  company.  The  loss  was  mine, 
for  I  find  few  pleasures  equal  to  those  which  arise 
from  the  conversation  of  men  who  are  endea- 
vouring to  promote  the  glory  of  the  Creator  and 
the  good  of  their  fellow-creatures.  I  consider 
you,  too,  with  the  greatest  respect,  as  I  believe 
you  were  one  of  the  first  of  my  encouragers  at 
the  outset  of  the  little  plan  I  was  the  humble 
instrument  of  suggesting  to  the  world.  I  thank 
you,  my  good  friend,  for  communicating  the 
pleasing  recital  from  Colchester.  What  a  wide  and 
extensive  field  of  rational  enjoyment  opens  to  our 


9^  Robert  Raikes. 


view  could  we  allow  the  improvement  of  human 
nature  to  become  a  source  of  pleasure.  Instead 
of  training  horses  to  the  course,  and  viewing  with 
delight  their  exertions  at  Ne-wmarket,  let  our  men 
of  fortune  turn  their  eyes  to  an  exhibition  like  that 
at  Colchester.  Impart  to  them  a  small  portion  of 
the  solid  enjoyment  which  a  mind  like  yours  must 
receive  from  the  glorious  sight — children  more 
neglected  than  the  beasts  of  the  field  now  taught 
to  relish  the  comforts  of  decency  and  good  order,  and 
to  know  that  their  own  happiness  greatly  depends 
upon  promoting  the  happiness  of  others.  When 
the  community  begins  to  reap  the  benefit  of  these 
principles,  let  us  hope  that  the  nation  will  manifest 
to  the  world  the  blessed  effects  of  the  general 
diffusion  of  Christianity.  The  great  reformations 
of  past  times  have  been  only  removing  obstruc- 
tions from  our  way.  Let  us  hope  that  the  day  is 
approaching  when  *the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.' 
The  number  of  children  admitted  into  a  state  of 
culture  in  this  short  period  seems  to  me  little  less 
miraculous  than  the  draught  of  fishes,  and  would 
incline  us  to  think  that  the  prophecy  above  quoted 
is  advancing  to  its  completion.  Some  French 
gentlemen,  members  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 


/ 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  97 

Paris,  were  with  me  last  week,  and  were  so  strongly- 
impressed  \vith  the  probable  effects  of  this  scheme 
of  civilization  that  they  have  taken  all  the  pieces  I 
have  printed  upon  the  subject,  and  intend  proposing 
establishments  of  a  similar  nature  in  some  of  their 
parishes  in  the  provinces,  by  way  of  experiment. 
We  have  seen  the  rapid  progress  of  Christianity. 
Dr.  Adam  Smith,  who  has  very  ably  WTitten  on  the 
wealth  of  nations,  says,  *  No  plan  has  promised  to 
effect  a  change  of  manners  mth  equal  ease  and 
simplicity  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.'  I  have 
sent  you  my  paper  of  this  week,  that  you  may  see 
we  are  extending  towards  Wales  with  the  improve- 
ment of  a  School  of  Industry.  I  have  only  room 
to  add  that  I  am, 

"  Dear  Sir, 
"  Your  sincere  friend  and  servant, 

"R.  Raikes." 

One  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  the  progress 
of  the  Sunday-school  system  was  the  expense  of 
hiring  teachers,  whom  it  was  the  custom  to  pay 
from  IS.  to  2s.  each  per  Sunday  for  their  services. 
From  1786  to  1800,  the  Society  for  the  Establishment 
of  Sunday-schools  expended  no  less  than  ;f  4,000  in 
the  payment  of  teachers.     It  was  probably  owing 


gS  Robert  Raikes. 


to  the  difficulty  of  finding  funds  for  this  purpose 
that  even  in  Gloucester  itself,  about  thirty  years 
after  their  institution,  Sunday-schools  seem  to 
have  received  a  temporary  check.  It  has  been 
asserted  that  for  a  time  all  the  schools  in  the  city 
were  closed ;  but  the  inaccuracy  of  this  statement 
is  shown  by  the  records  that  still  exist  of  the 
consecutive  anniversaries  of  the  school  in  St.  Mary 
de  Crypt  parish,  which  was  peculiarly  "Raikes' 
own."  There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that  the 
work  received  an  immense  impetus  from  the  in- 
troduction of  gratuitous  teaching.  Raikes  himself 
lived  to  see  this  radical  improvement  begin.  In 
.  1810,  about  twelve  months  before  his  death,  unpaid 
teaching  was  made  general  in  Gloucester,  chiefly 
through  the  efforts  of  six  young  men,  who  had 
heard  of  the  success  of  the  plan  in  other  places. 
Lamenting  the  decline  of  Sunday-schools  in  the 
city  of  their  origin,  these  young  men  banded  them- 
selves together  with  the  determination  to  revive 
them.  They  applied  to  their  minister,  the  pastor 
of  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon's  chapel,  for  leave 
to  use  that  edifice  for  school  purposes. 

"No,"  said  the  minister,  "the  children  will 
make  too  much  noise."  Nothing  daunted,  the 
young  men  renewed   their  application,  this  time 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement,  99 

to  the  trustees.  "  No,"  said  the  trustees,  "  the 
children  will  soil  the  place."  The  next  appeal 
was  to  the  members  of  the  church.  "  No,"  said 
the  members  of  the  church,  "you  will  find  no 
children,  no  teachers,  and  no  money  to  pay 
expenses."  Thus  discountenanced  on  all  hands, 
the  young  men  determined,  with  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  act  for  themselves.  Gathering  one  night 
after  business  hours  around  a  post  at  the  corner 
of  a  lane,  within  twenty  yards  of  the  spot 
where  Bishop  Hooper  was  martyred,  they  clasped 
each  other  by  the  hand,  and  with  reverently  un- 
covered heads  resolved  that,  come  what  would, 
Sunday-schools  in  Gloucester  should  be  re-esta- 
blished. As  a  fund  to  start  with  they  subscribed 
a  half-crown  each,  and  then,  dividing  the  city  into 
districts,  they  canvassed  it  for  scholars.  On  the 
follo\ving  Sunday  upwards  of  one  hundred  children 
attended,  and  from  that  time  forward  the  work 
progressed  with  yearly-increasing  success.  One  of 
these  young  men,  at  that  time  an  assistant  in  a 
draper's  shop,  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Rev. 
John  Adey,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
Bexley  Heath,  Kent. 

The    idea    of  conducting    Sunday-schools    by 
unpaid  teachers  is  said  to  have  originated   in  a 


100  Robert  Raikes. 


meeting  of  zealous  Wesleyan  office-bearers,  one 
of  whom,  while  the  others  were  lamenting  their 
inability  to  hire  teachers  for  want  of  funds,  said, 
"Let  us  do  the  work  ourselves."  Wesley  records 
that  as  early  as  1785  the  masters  in  the  school 
at  Bolton  gave  their  services  gratuitously,  and  a 
few  years  later  the  same  practice  became  general 
in  Stockport.  Every  succeeding  year  added  to 
the  number  of  unpaid  teachers,  the  Nonconformist 
churches  being  especially  ready  to  recognise  the  ad- 
^  vantages  of  voluntary  Sunday-school  labour.  By 
degrees  paid  teachers  were  entirely  superseded, 
and  gratuitous  instruction  became  the  universal 
rule.  The  formation  of  the  Sunday-school  Union 
^in  1803  gave  an  immense  impetus  to  the  extension 
of  the  Sunday-school  system.  Under  the  auspices 
of  the  Union  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  James 
Montgomery,  the  poet,  a  Sunday-school  jubilee 
was  celebrated  on  the  14th  of  September,  183 1, 
the  anniversary  of  Robert  Raikes'  birthday.  Mr. 
Montgomery  wrote  two  hymns,  and  Mrs.  Gilbert 
a  third,  which,  with  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Raikes,  were 
engraved  on  steel  for  use  at  the  jubilee  gather- 
ings. Medals  were  also  struck  in  commemoration 
of  the  occasion,  bearing  the  inscription,  "Robert 
Raikes,  Esq.,  Founder  of  Sunday-schools,  bom  at 


TJie  Spread  of  the  Movement.         i  oi 

Gloucester,  September  14th,  1735."  ^^  Gloucester, 
the  programme  of  the  Jubilee  celebration  comprised 
an  early  morning  prayer-meeting  for  teachers,  a 
sermon  to  teachers  and  children  at  10.30  a.m.,  a 
dinner  to  the  children  (about  1,000  in  number)  at 
mid-day,  and  a  teachers'  tea  and  public  meeting  in 
the  evening,  at  which  addresses  were  delivered  by 
two  teachers  who  had  themselves  been  favoured 
with  Mr.  Raikes'  personal  instructions. 

This  c'lapter  could  hardly  be  considered  com- 
plete without  some  reference  to  the  spread  of  the 
Sunday-sc'iool  system  in  the  sister  dominions  of 
Wales,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  abroad.  The 
honour  of  ntroducing  the  work  into  Wales  belongs 
to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Charles,  of  Bala,  who  formed 
the  plan  of  :emoving  the  dense  spiritual  ignorance 
which  he  fcund  in  the  course  of  his  evangelistic 
labours  to  e\erywhere  prevail  by  the  establishment 
of  circulating  schools,  movable  from  one  place  to 
another,  at  tie  end  of  nine  or  twelve  months,  or 
even  more.  The  schools  commenced  in  1785, 
and  rapidly  sp:ead  over  the  whole  country.  One 
remarkable  feature  in  them  was  the  large  pro- 
portion of  adilts  to  be  found  amongst  the 
scholars :  in  a  school  at  Bangor  a  class  was  to 
be  seen  of  whi(h  every  member  wore  spectacles. 


102  Robert  Raikes, 


The  Welsh  Sunday-schools  were  indirectly  the 
cause  of  the  formation  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  an  organization  whose  efforts  to 
circulate  God's  Word  throughout  the  world  have 
since  been  attended  with  marvellous  results,  Mr. 
Charles  found,  some  few  years  after  the  institution 
of  his  schools,  that  the  demand  for  Welsh  Bibles 
was  far  greater  than  the  supply.  This  fact  is  said 
to  have  been  brought  home  to  him  very  forcibly  by 
the  following  incident.  Walking  in  the  streets  of 
Bala  one  day  in  the  year  1802,  he  met  a  little  girl 
who  attended  his  ministry.  He  inquired  if  she 
could  repeat  the  text  from  which  he  had  preached 
on  the  preceding  Sunday.  Instead  a  giving  a 
prompt  reply,  as  was  her  wont,  she  remiined  silent 
and  confused.  "Can  you  tell  me  t|e  text,  my 
little  girl  ?  "  repeated  Mr.  Charles.  Thi  child  wept, 
but  was  still  silent.     At  length  she  sai^ — 

"  The  weather,  sir,  has  been  so  bad  that  I  could 
not  get  to  read  the  Bible." 

*  Could  not  get  to  read  the  Biblf !  How  was 
that  ?  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Charles,  full  rf  surprise. 

The  reason  was  soon  ascertained.  There  was 
no  copy  to  which  she  could  get  a::cess  either  at 
her  own  home  or  among  her  frienls,  and  she  was 
accustomed  to  travel  every  week  abven  miles  over 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.         103 

the  hills  to  a  place  where  she  could  obtain  a  Welsh 
Bible  to  read  the  chapter  from  which  the  minister 
took  his  text.  The  next  time  Mr.  Charles  went  to 
London  he  urged  among  his  friends  the  formation 
of  a  Bible  Society  for  Wales.  At  the  suggestion  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes  the  scheme  was  extended  to 
the  whole  world,  and  the  result  was  that  on  the 
7th  March,  1804,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  was  fully  established. 

In  Scotland,  though  a  Presbyterian  minister 
had  a  Sabbath-school  in  his  own  house  as  early  as 
1756,  Sunday  teaching,  as  a  system,  sprang  from 
the  efforts  of  Robert  Raikes.  In  1795,  under  the 
auspices  of  an  unsectarian  association  called  the 
"Edinburgh  Gratis  Sabbath-school  Society,"  a 
school  was  opened  at  Portsburg,  and  by  181 2  the 
society  had  under  its  care  forty-four  schools  and 
2,200  children.  In  the  north  of  Scotland  Sunday- 
schools  had  to  contend  against  considerable  oppo- 
sition from  both  Church  and  State.  The  assembly 
of  the  Scottish  National  Church  condemned  in 
severe  terms  the  unauthorised  instructions  of  lay 
teachers,  and  some  of  the  teachers  were  threatened 
with  legal  proceedings  for  violating  the  statutes  by 
which  teachers  of  religion  were  compelled  to 
obtain  a  license  and  take  oaths  of  allegiance  to 


104  Robert  Raikes. 


the  Government.  Some  ministers  stated  from  the 
pulpit  that  Sabbath-school  teaching  was  a  breach  of 
the  fourth  commandment,  and  others  threatened  to 
exclude  from  the  communion  of  the  Church  all  pa- 
rents who  sent  their  children  to  the  Sabbath-schools. 
From  some  parts  of  Aberdeenshire  Sunday-school 
teachers  were  marched  into  the  city  of  Aberdeen, 
under  the  charge  of  constables,  to  account  before 
the  magistrates  for  their  presumption.  But  all  the 
opposition  came  to  nought.  The  civil  authorities, 
on  learning  the  nature  of  the  new  institutions, 
wished  the  teachers  God-speed,  and  Church  dig- 
nitaries soon  became  warm  patrons  of  the  schools 
which  at  first  they  condemned.  Those  very  reli- 
gious bodies  which  passed  resolutions  against  Sun- 
day schools  now  have  annual  statistical  returns  of 
their  operations. 

.  In  Ireland,  the  Sunday-school  system  had  been 
partially  anticipated  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy, 
curate  of  Bright  parish,  county  Down,  who,  about 
the  year  1770,  gathered  the  children  of  his  district 
together  to  practise  psalmody.  Gradually  other 
branches  of  instruction  were  added,  until,  in  1785, 
Dr.  Kennedy,  having  heard  of  the  proceedings 
in  England,  commenced,  with  the  aid  of  a  gentle- 
man named  Henry,  to  make  his  school  compre- 


The  Spread  of  the  Movement.  105 

hensive  and  systematic,  according  to  the  English 
method.  The  spread  of  the  system  is  noticed  by 
an  Irish  correspondent  of  Raikes'  newspaper  on 
April  30th,  1787,  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"Dr.  Woodward,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  and  Dr. 
Law,  Bishop  of  Clonfort,  by  the  establishment  of 
Sunday-schools  in  their  respective  dioceses,  have 
given  the  strongest  evidence  to  the  nation  that  the 
profligacy  of  our  common  people  is  to  be  dimi- 
nished more  successfully  by  an  attention  to  their 
morals  in  the  early  period  of  life  than  by  hanging 
thousands  when  they  are  confirmed  in  habits  of 
vice  and  are  let  loose  from  every  restraint  of  reli- 
gion and  morality.  Instances  of  reform,  so  very 
singular  and  unhoped-for  in  some  districts,  have 
attended  the  labours  of  these  pious  prelates,  that 
the  governors  of  this  country  have  been  struck 
wth  the  facts,  and,  in  consequence,  have  taken 
the  resolution  to  propose  to  Parliament  a  plan  of 
education  which  shall  embrace  in  its  benevolent 
arms  the  lowest  of  the  people.  Mr.  Orde  brought 
it  before  the  House  a  few  days  ago,  and  was  heard 
with  the  most  fixed  attention  for  three  hours.  The 
House  was  penetrated  with  the  force  of  his  argu- 
ments, and  unanimously  agreed  to  support  those 
excellent  designs  of  Government." 


io6  Robert  Raikes. 


In  1805  the  Irish  Methodist  Conference  passed 
resolutions  recommending  the  establishment  of 
Sunday-schools  in  every  circuit  in  Ireland  In 
1809  was  founded  the  Hibernian  Sunday-school 
Society,  which  still  exists  under  the  title  of  the 
Sunday-school  Society  for  Ireland,  and  has  been 
exceedingly  useful. 

In  America,  isolated  Sunday-schools  were  in 
existence  in  several  localities  as  early  as  1750  and 
1760,  but  Sunday  teaching,  as  a  system,  was  not 
introduced  till  a  much  later  date.  The  idea,  im- 
proved by  the  introduction  of  unpaid  teachers,  and 
with  greater  attention  to  its  religious  character, 
was  developed  in  the  United  States  by  Francis 
Asbury,  the  patriarch  of  American  Methodism. 
He  planted  what  may  be  termed  the  first  American 
Sunday-school  in  Hanover  county,  Virginia,  in 
1786.  In  1790  the  Methodist  Conference  resolved 
on  establishing  Sunday-schools  for  poor  children, 
white  and  black.  In  1791  an  unsectarlan  asso- 
ciation called  "  The  First  Day  or  Sunday-school 
Society"  was  formed  at  Philadelphia;  and  in 
1804  Mr.  Divie  Bethune,  an  American  philan- 
thropist who  had  visited  England,  opened  in 
New  York  one  of  the  first  schools  that  became 
permanent.     It  is  recorded  that  "  young  ladies,  the 


IJte  Spread  of  the  Movement  107 

first  in  station,  in  society,  and  in  accomplishments  " 
were  among  the  earliest  teachers  in  New  York. 
In  1 8 10  we  find  Sunday-schools  in  existence  in 
the  West  Indies.  In  1815  they  were  introduced 
into  France ;  and  about  the  same  time  they  were 
established  in  Asia,  by  Wesleyan  missionaries  at 
Ceylon,  and  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore. 
Time  would  fail  to  trace  the  spread  of  the  move- 
ment further.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  wherever 
Christianity,  with  civilization  in  its  train,  has 
penetrated,  there  Sunday-schools  have  found  a 
place.  Of  Sunday-school  teachers  it  may  be  said 
almost  with  literal  truth,  "  There  is  no  speech  nor 
language  where  their  voice  is  not  heard.  Their 
line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  theii 
words  to  the  end  of  the  world." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RAIKES  AND   HIS  SCHOLARS. 

"  More  bent  to  raise  the  wretched  than  to  rise." 

— Goldsmith. 

BY  the  aid  of  Raikes'  letters  and  other  con- 
temporary records  let  us  picture  one  of  the 
earliest  schools  in  Gloucester,  the  one  known  to 
posterity  as  "  Raikes'  own," — ^because  it  was  in  his 
own  parish  and  was  carried  on  more  directly  under 
his  direction  than  any  of  the  other  estabhshments 
he  was  instrumental  in  founding.  Other  schools, 
having  been  once  fairly  started,  he  left  to  the 
care  of  the  workers  who  had  become  interested  in 
them,  but  this  one,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Mary  de 
Crypt,  was  his  own  permanent  and  peculiar  charge. 
In  point  of  time  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
second  established  after  the  inauguration  of  the 
scheme  by  the  joint  efforts  of  Raikes  and  Stock. 
Its  /ocale  was  a  private  dwelling-house  in  Southgate- 
street,  almost  opposite  Raikes'  residence,  and  very 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  109 

near  to  the  parish  church.  The  teacher,  a  Mrs. 
Sarah  Critchley,  lived  next  door,  and  was  paid  foi 
her  services  at  the  rate  of  one  shilling  per  Sunday 
with  firing  and  gratuities  worth  an  additional  six 
I)ence.  The  children,  drawn  for  the  most  part  from 
the  lowest  classes  of  the  population,  varied  in  age 
from  six  to  fourteen :  no  provision  seems  to  have 
been  made  for  infants.  The  one  essential  qualifica- 
tion for  the  admission  of  scholars  was  cleanliness. 
"All  that  I  require,"  said  Raikes  to  the  parents, 
"are  clean  hands,  clean  faces,  and  their  hair 
combed."  None  were  turned  away  because  their 
clothe  were  dirty  or  ragged.  "  If  you  have  no 
clean  shirt,  come  in  that  you  have  on,"  said  Raikes ; 
and  when  the  ragamuffins  pointed  to  their  tattered 
garments  arid  shoeless  feet  as  excuses  for  their 
non-attendance,  Raikes  argued  with  them,  "  If  you 
can  loiter  about  without  shoes  and  in  a  ragged  coat, 
you  may  as  well  come  to  school  and  learn  what 
may  tend  to  your  good." 

According  to  the  rules  drawn  up  by  Raikes* 
zealous  co-worker,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Stock,  school 
opened  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning;  but  it 
was  usually  half-past  eight  before  the  children  were 
all  together  and  the  proceedings  actually  began. 
Raikes    himself   was    frequently  present    at    the 


1 10  Robert  Raikes, 


opening,  and  it  was  his  practice  to  inquire  into  the 
conduct  of  the  scholars,  and,  if  necessary,  to  in- 
spect their  appearance.  Those  who  were  dirty 
and  slovenly  he  reproved,  but  the  neat,  however 
homely  their  apparel  might  be,  received  words  of 
commendation.  Boys  and  girls  were  taught  sepa- 
rately. Each  teacher  had  about  twenty  children 
under  his  care,  and  these  he  was  accustomed  to 
divide  into  four  classes,  with  a  leader,  usually  the 
best  boy  or  girl  in  the  class,  to  each.  The  duty  of 
the  leader  was  to  act  as  monitor  and  pupil  teacher 
to  his  class.  He  taught  them  their  letters,  practised 
them  in  spelling,  and  heard  them  read.  Some  of 
the  more  advanced  received  reading  lessons  from 
the  New  Testament,  and  learnt  portions  of  the 
Church  catechism  and  Watts'  hymns.  Emulation 
was  excited  by  the  occasional  distribution  of  little 
rewards,  such  as  books,  combs,  shoes,  or  articles 
of  apparel,  to  the  most  diligent.  The  vice  of 
profane  swearing,  at  that  time  fearfully  prevalent 
amongst  all  classes,  was  one  against  which  the 
scholars  were  frequently  warned,  and  the  leaders 
were  charged  to  report  to  the  teachers  every  instance 
of  the  use  of  bad  language  in  school.  "The  grct 
principle  I  inculcate,"  wrote  Raikes,  "  is  to  be  kind 
and  good-natured  to  each  other;  not  to  provoke 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  1 1 1 

one  another ;  to  be  dutiful  to  their  parents  ;  not  to 
offend  God  by  cursing  and  swearing;  and  such 
little  plain  precepts  as  all  may  comprehend." 

The  scholars  being,  almost  without  exception, 
children  whose  previous  training  had  been  entirely 
neglected,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  the  disci- 
pline was  sometimes  insufficient  to  prevent  quarrels ; 
and  in  such  cases  (to  use  Raikes'  own  language) 
the  aggressor  was  "  compelled  to  ask  pardon,  and 
the  offender  enjoined  to  forgive." 

Raikes'  original  plan  was  to  dismiss  the  children  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  morning  school  to  their  own 
homes,  assembling  them  again  in  the  afternoon  to  be 
taken  to  church.  After  a  while,  however,  the  clergy- 
man of  the  parish  interested  himself  in  the  scheme, 
and  at  his  desire  the  children  were  taken  to  church 
both  morning  and  afternoon.  Once  a  month,  at  the 
afternoon  service,  the  children  were  publicly  cate- 
chised in  church,  and  the  answers  in  the  catechism 
were  explained  to  them.  On  leaving  church  in  the 
afternoon,  scholars  and  teachers  returned  to  the 
school-room,  and  instruction  went  on  till  about 
half-past  five,  when  the  children  were  dismissed* 
During  the  afternoon  some  patron  of  the  school 
frequently  looked  in  to  inspect  progress.  At  the 
schools    in  which   he  was    interested    the    Rev. 

8 


112  Robert  Raikcs. 


Thomas  Stock  was  a  constant  visitor  in  this  way. 
He  was  at  that  time  curate  at  Hempstead,  near 
Gloucester,  and  generally  called  at  the  schools  on 
his  return  from    afternoon    service    there.      Mr. 
Raikes'  afternoon  visits  were  only  occasional.     At 
that  time  the  Gloucester  Journal  was  published  on 
the  Monday  morning,  and  a  portion  of  the  editorial 
duties,  therefore,  had  necessarily  to   be  done  on 
the  Sunday.     Hence,  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
day,  Raikes  was  unable  to  devote  much  personal 
attention  to  his  schools.      His  interest  in  them, 
however,  never  flagged.     Throughout  the  week  he 
was  unwearied  in  his  efforts  to  promote  their  suc- 
cess.    At  the  homes  of  the  poor  in  the  lowest  parts 
of  the  city  he  was  a  constant  visitor,  and  many  new 
scholars  from  the  Gloucester  "  slums  "  were  gained 
by  his  exertions.     Over  all  the  scholars  he  exerted 
a  weighty  personal  influence.     They  soon  learned 
to  court  his  approbation  and  to  shun  his  censure. 
As  an  instance  of  their  desire  to  please  him,  Raikes 
himself  records  :   "  A  woman  told  me  last  Sunday 
that  her  boy  inquires  of  her  every  night  before  he 
goes  to  bed  whether  he  has  done  anything  in  the 
day  that  will  furnish  a  complaint  against  him  on 
Sunday."    Through  Mr.  Raikes'  example  and  in- 
junctions many  of  the  Sunday-school  boys  learned 


Raikes  and  Jus  Sdiolars.  1 1 3 

to  attend  regularly  at  "  the  Ladye  Chapel "  of  the 
Cathedral  at  seven  o'clock  for  morning  prayers. 
Sometimes  as  many  as  fifty  would  be  present  at 
one  service.  "They  assemble,"  said  Raikes,  "at 
the  house  of  one  of  the  mistresses,  and  walk  before 
her  to  church,  two  and  two,  in  as  much  order  as 
a  company  of  soldiers.  I  am  generally  at  church, 
and  after  service  they  all  come  round  me  to  make 
their  bow,  and,  if  any  animosities  have  arisen,  to 
make  their  complaints."  At  these  early  services 
those  boys  who  could  read  pretty  well  were  expected 
to  join  in  the  responses  and  the  reading  of  the 
Psalms.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  service,  as  the 
boys  passed  with  their  benefactor  down  the  Cathe- 
dral nave,  he  was  accustomed  to  distribute  among 
them  sweetmeats,  gingerbread,  and  other  similar 
rewards.  Occasionally,  when  he  had  nothing  of 
this  kind  with  him,  he  would  give  them  pence. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  large  juvenile 
attendance  at  morning  prayers  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at.  On  these  occasions  Mr.  Raikes  was  often 
accompanied  by  other  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
Gloucester,  among  whom  are  mentioned  Mr. 
George  Counsel,  a  solicitor  and  local  historian, 
and  Mr.  James  Wood,  usually  known  as  "  Jemmy 
Wood,"  the  miserly  banker.     Mr.  Wood^  4t4s  said. 


1 14  Robert  Raikes, 


was  never  known  to  give  anything  to  the  boys. 
A  pleasing  reminiscence  of  these  early  services 
was  related  in  the  Gloucester  Journal  for  186 1  by  an 
aged  correspondent  who  had  in  his  youth  been  one 
of  Raikes'  scholars.  Owing  to  his  regular  attend- 
ance at  the  Cathedral  Mr.  Raikes  took  more  notice 
of  him  than  of  many  of  the  other  boys,  and  on  one 
occasion  he  told  him  to  ask  his  father  to  bring 
him  to  his  (Mr.  Raikes')  office,  promising  if  he 
could  read  a  chapter  in  the  Testament  to  give  him 
a  new  Bible.  This  was  before  the  formation  of  the 
Bible  Society,  and  the  Scriptures  were  then  dear 
and  scarce.  The  boy,  delighted  at  the  prospect  of 
earning  a  handsome  prize,  attended  in  due  course 
with  his  father  at  Mr.  Raikes'  office,  and  Mr. 
Raikes  himself  brought  a  stool  for  the  boy  to  stand 
upon  to  reach  the  desk  on  which  the  book  lay.  The 
chapter  chosen  was  the  first  of  St.  Matthew,  and 
Mr.  Raikes  was  so  pleased  with  the  lad's  reading 
that  he  at  once  gave  l.im  the  much-prized  Bible, 
writing  his  name  in  it,  and  telling  him  to  be  a  good 
boy  and  never  to  forget  to  read  the  good  book. 
This  is  not  the  only  incident  recorded  in  illustration 
of  the  way  in  which  Raikes  prized  the  Holy  Scxip- 
tures.  It  was,  we  are  told,  while  reading  the  fifty- 
third  chapter  of  Isaiah  to  one  of  his  scholars  that 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  115 

he  himself  received  some  of  his  deepest  impressions 
of  the  truth  and  power  of  the  Gospel. 

The  narrative  of  the  work  of  the  early  Sunday 
schools,  however,  will  be  best  told  in  Raikes'  o^vn 
words.  In  his  letter  to  Colonel  ToAvnley  (from 
which  we  have  previously  quoted)  he  says  : — 

"  It  is  now  about  three  years  since  we  began,  and 
I  could  ^nsh  you  were  here  to  make  inquiry  into  the 
effect.  A  woman  who  lives  in  a  lane  where  I  had 
fixed  a  school  told  me  some  time  ago  that  the 
place  was  quite  a  heaven  upon  Sundays  compared 
to  what  it  used  to  be.  The  numbers  who  have 
learned  to  read  and  say  their  catechism  are  so 
great  that  I  am  astonished  at  it.  Upon  the  Sun- 
day afternoons  the  mistresses  take  their  scholars 
to  church — a  place  into  which  neither  they  nor 
their  ancestors  had  ever  before  entered  with  a 
view  to  the  glory  of  God.  But  what  is  yet  more 
extraordinary,  within  this  month  these  little  raga- 
'muffins  have  in  great  numbers  taken  into  their 
heads  to  frequent  the  early  morning  prayers  which 
are  held  every  morning  at  the  Cathedral  at  seven 
o'clock.  I  believe  there  were  nearly  fifty  this 
morning.  They  assemble  at  the  house  of  one  of 
the  mistresses,  and  walk  before  her  to  church,  two 


ii6  Robert  Raikes. 


and  two,  in  as  much  order  as  a  company  of  soldiers. 
I  am  generally  at  church,  and  after  service  they 
all  come  round  me  to  make  their  bow,  and,  if  any 
animosities  have  arisen,  to  make  their  complaints. 
The  great  principle  I  inculcate  is,  to  be  kind  and 
good-natured  to  each  other;  not  to  provoke  one 
another;  to  be  dutiful  to  their  parents;  not  to 
offend  God  by  cursing  and  swearing;  and  such 
little  plain  precepts  as  all  may  comprehend.  As 
my  profession  is  that  of  a  printer,  I  have  printed  a 
little  book,  which  I  give  amongst  them ;  and  some 
friends  of  mine,  subscribers  to  the  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge,  sometimes  make  me 
a  present  of  a  parcel  of  Bibles,  Testaments,  etc., 
which  I  distribute  as  rewards  to  the  deserving. 
The  success  that  has  attended  this  scheme  has 
induced  one  or  two  of  my  friends  to  adopt  the 
plan,  and  set  up  Sunday-schools  in  other  parts  of 
the  city,  and  now  a  whole  parish  has  taken  up  the 
object;  so  that  I  flatter  myself  in  time  the  good 
effects  will  appear  so  conspicuous  as  to  become 
generally  adopted.  The  number  of  children  at  pre- 
sent thus  engaged  on  the  Sabbath  is  between  two 
and  three  hundred,  and  they  are  increasing  every 
week,  as  the  benefit  is  universally  seen.  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  engage  the  clergy  of  my  acquaintance 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  117 

that  reside  in  their  parishes.  One  has  entered 
into  the  scheme  v\ith  great  fervour,  and  it  was  in 
order  to  excite  others  to  follow  the  example  that 
I  inserted  in  my  paper  the  paragraph  which  I 
suppose  you  saw  copied  into  the  London  papers. 
I  cannot  express  to  you  the  pleasure  I  often  receive 
in  discovering  genius  and  innate  good  dispositions 
among  this  little  multitude.  It  is  botanizing  in 
human  nature.  I  have  often,  too,  the  satisfaction 
of  receiving  thanks  from  parents  for  the  reforma- 
tion they  perceive  in  their  children.  Often  I  have 
given  them  kind  admonitions,  which  I  always  do 
in  the  mildest  and  gentlest  manner.  The  going 
amongst  them,  doing  them  little  kindnesses,  dis- 
tributing trifling  rewards,  and  ingratiating  myself 
with  them,  I  hear,  have  given  me  an  ascendancy 
greater  than  I  ever  could  have  imagined,  for  I  am 
told  by  their  mistresses  that  they  are  very  much 
afraid  of  my  displeasure.  If  you  ever  pass  through 
Gloucester  I  shall  be  happy  to  pay  my  respects  to 
you,  and  to  show  you  the  effects  of  this  effort  at 
civilization.  If  the  glory  of  God  be  promoted  in 
any,  even  the  smallest,  degree,  society  must  reap 
some  benefit.  If  good  seed  be  sown  in  the  mind 
at  an  early  period  of  human  life,  though  it  shows 
itself  not  again  for  many  years,  it  may  please  God 


1 1 8  Robert  Raikes, 


at  some  future  period  to  cause  it  to  spring  up  and 
to  bring  forth  a  plentiful  harvest.  With  regard  to 
the  rules  adopted,  I  only  require  that  they  may 
come  to  the  school  on  Sunday  as  clean  as  possible. 
Many  were  at  first  deterred  because  they  wanted 
decent  clothing,  but  I  could  not  undertake  to 
supply  this  defect.  I  argue,  therefore  :  *  If  you  can 
loiter  about  without  shoes  and  in  a  ragged  coat, 
you  may  as  well  come  to  school  and  learn  what 
may  tend  to  your  good  in  that  garb.  I  reject  none 
on  that  footing.  All  that  I  require  are  clean  hands, 
clean  face,  and  their  hair  combed.  If  you  have  no 
clean  shirt,  come  in  that  you  have  on.'  The  want 
of  decent  apparel  at  first  kept  great  numbers  at  a 
distance ;  but  they  now  begin  to  grow  wiser,  and 
all  press  in  to  learn.  I  have  had  the  good  luck 
to  procure  places  for  some  that  were  deserving, 
which  has  been  of  great  use.  You  will  understand 
that  these  children  are  from  six  years  old  to  twelve 
or  fourteen.  Boys  and  girls  above  this  age,  who 
have  been  totally  undisciplined,  are  generally  too 
refractory  for  this  government.  A  reformation  in 
society  seems  to  me  to  be  only  practicable  by 
establishing  notions  of  duty  and  practical  habits  of 
order  and  decorum  at  an  early  age.  But  whither 
am  I  running  ?     I  am  ashamed  to  see  how  much 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  119 

I  have  trespassed  on  your  patience ;  but  I  thought 
the  most  complete  idea  of  Sunday-schools  was  to 
be  conveyed  to  you  by  telling  what  first  suggested 
the  thought.  The  same  sentiments  would  have 
arisen  in  your  mind  had  they  happened  to  have 
been  called  forth  as  they  were  suggested  to  me.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  you  mil  find  great  improvement 
to  be  made  on  this  plan.  The  minds  of  men  have 
taken  great  hold  on  that  prejudice,  that  we  are  to 
do  nothing  on  the  Sabbath  day  which  may  be 
deemed  labour,  and  therefore  we  are  to  be  excused 
from  all  application  of  mind  as  well  as  body.  The 
rooting  out  of  this  prejudice  is  the  point  I  aim  at 
as  my  favourite  object.  Our  Saviour  takes  parti- 
cular pains  to  manifest  that  whatever  tended  to 
promote  the  health  and  happiness  of  our  fellow- 
creatures  were  sacrifices  peculiarly  acceptable  on 
that  day.  I  do  not  think  I  have  written  so  long  a 
letter  for  some  years.  But  you  will  excuse  me — 
my  heart  is  warm  in  the  catise.  I  think  this  is 
the  kind  of  reformation  most  requisite  in  this 
kingdom.  Let  our  patriots  employ  themselves  in 
rescuing  their  countrymen  from  that  despotism 
which  tyrannical  passions  and  vicious  inclinations 
exercise  over  them,  and  they  will  find  that  true 
liberty  and  national  welfare   are  more  essentially 


120  Robert  Raikes, 


promoted  than  by  any  reform  in  Parliament.  As 
often  as  I  have  attempted  to  conclude,  some 
new  idea  has  arisen.  This  is  strange,  as  I  am 
writing  to  a  person  whom  I  never  have,  and 
perhaps  never  may  see;  but  I  have  felt  that  we 
think  alike.  I  shall  therefore  only  add  my  ardent 
wishes  that  your  views  of  promoting  the  happiness 
of  society  may  be  attended  with  every  possible 
success,  conscious  that  your  own  internal  enjoyment 
will  thereby  be  considerably  advanced." 

The  clergyman  to  whom  Raikes  refers  in  the 
above  letter,  as  having  "entered  into  the  scheme 
with  great  fervour,"  was  doubtless  his  friend  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Stock.  Writing  again  in  the 
Arminian  Magazine  two  years  later  (1785),  Raikes 
describes  the  discipline  of  his  schools  in  the 
following  terms : — 

"The  children  are  frequently  admonished  to 
refrain  from  swearing;  and  certain  boys  who  are 
distinguished  by  their  decent  behaviour  are  ap- 
pointed to  superintend  the  conduct  of  the  rest,  and 
make  report  of  all  those  that  swear,  call  names,  etc. 
When  quarrels  have  arisen,  the  aggressor  is  com- 
pelled to  ask  pardon,  and  the  offended  is  enjoined 
to  forgive.     The  happiness  that  must  arise  to  all 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  121 

from  a  kind,  good-natured  behaviour  is  often  in- 
culcated. This  mode  of  treatment  has  produced 
a  wonderful  change  in  the  manners  of  these  little 
savages.  I  cannot  give  a  more  striking  instan(;e 
than  I  received  the  other  day  from  Mr.  Church,  a 
manufacturer  of  hemp  and  flax,  who  employs 
numbers  of  these  children.  I  asked  him  whether 
he  perceived  any  alteration  in  them  since  they  had 
been  restrained  from  their  former  prostitution  of 
the  Lord's  Day.  *  Sir,'  said  he,  '  the  change  could 
not  have  been  more  extraordinary  had  they  been 
transformed  from  the  shape  of  wolves  and  tigers  to 
that  of  men.  In  temper,  disposition,  and  manners 
they  could  hardly  be  said  to  differ  from  the  brute 
creation.  But  since  the  establishment  of  the  Sunday- 
schools  they  have  sho^vn  that  they  are  not  the  igno- 
rant creatures  they  were  before.  When  they  have 
seen  a  superior  come  to  kindly  instruct  and  admonish 
them,  and  sometimes  reward  their  good  behaviour, 
they  are  anxious  to  gain  his  friendship  and  good 
opinion.  They  are  also  become  more  tractable  and 
obedient,  and  less  quarrelsome  and  revengeful.' 
From  this  little  sketch  of  the  reformation  which 
has  taken  place,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  a 
general  establishment  of  Sunday-schools  would  in 
time  make  some  change  in  the  morals  of  the  lower 


122  Robert  Raikes, 


class;  at  least  it  might  in  some  measure  prevent 
them  from  growing  worse,  which  at  present  seems 
but  too  apparent.  The  parish  of  St.  Nicholas  has 
lately  established  two  schools,  and  some  gentlemen 
of  this  city  have  also  set  up  others.  To  some  of 
the  schoolmistresses  I  give  two  shillings  a  week 
extra,  to  take  the  children  when  they  come  from 
work  during  the  week-days." 

Yet  another  narrative  of  the  operations  of  the 
early  Sunday-schools  has  been  put  on  record  by 
Raikes'  pen.  It  is  contained  in  the  following 
letter  written  by  him  to  an  old  friend,  Mrs.  Harris, 
of  Chelsea : — 

"Gloucester,  November  <^th,  1787. 
"  Madam, — 

"Amongst    the    numerous   correspondents 

whom     my     project    for     civilizing     the     rising 

generation  of  the   poor  has  led    me   to  address, 

I   have  to  no  one  taken  up  my   pen  with   more 

pleasure  than  to  you,  my  old  friend,  with  whom 

I  formerly  passed    so    many    cheerful    hours.    I 

am    rejoiced  to  find    that    the    people    in  your 

neighbourhood  are  thus  ready  to  listen  to   that 

strong    and     pathetic    injunction    given    by    our 

Saviour  a  little  before  His  ascension :  *  Feed  my 

lambs ;  *  and  if  it  were  possible  for  me  to  afford 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars,  123 

any  hints  that  might  be  useful,  great  would  be  the 
pleasure  I  should  receive.  In  answer  to  your 
queries,  I  shall,  as  concisely  as  possible,  state — 
that  I  endeavour  to  assemble  the  children  as  early 
as  is  consistent  with  their  perfect  cleanHness — an 
indispensable  rule;  the  hour  prescribed  in  our 
rules  is  eight  o'clock,  but  it  is  usually  half  after 
eight  before  our  flock  is  collected.  Twenty  is  the 
number  allotted  to  each  teacher;  the  sexes  kept 
separate.  The  twenty  are  divided  into  four  classes. 
The  children  who  show  any  superiority  in  their 
attainments  are  placed  as  leaders  of  the  several 
classes,  and  are  employed  in  teaching  the  others 
their  letters,  or  in  hearing  them  read  in  a  low 
whisper,  which  may  be  done  without  interrupting 
the  master  or  mistress  in  their  business,  and  will 
keep  the  attention  of  the  children  engaged,  that 
they  do  not  play  or  make  a  noise.  Their  attend- 
ing the  service  of  the  church  once  a  day  has,  to 
me,  seemed  sufficient ;  for  their  time  may  be  spent 
more  profitably,  perhaps,  in  receiving  instruction 
than  in  being  present  at  a  long  discourse,  which 
their  minds  are  not  yet  able  to  comprehend; 
but  people  may  think  differently  on  this  point. 
Within  this 'month,  the  minister  of  my  parish  has 
at  last  condescended  to  give  me  assistance  in  this 


24  Robert  Raikes. 


laborious  work,  which  I  have  now  carried  on  for 
six  years  with  little  or  no  support.  He  chooses 
that  the  children  should  come  to  church  both 
morning  and  afternoon ;  I  brought  them  to 
church  only  in  the  afternoon.  To  those  children 
who  distinguish  themselves  as  examples  of  dili 
gence,  quietness  of  behaviour,  observance  of  order, 
kindness  to  their  companions,  etc.,  etc.,  I  give 
some  little  token  of  my  regard,  as  a  pair  of  shoes 
if  they  are  barefooted,  and  some  who  are  very 
bare  of  apparel  I  clothe.  Besides,  I  frequently 
go  round  to  their  habitations,  to  inquire  into 
their  behaviour  at  home,  and  into  the  conduct 
of  the  parents,  to  whom  I  give  some  little  hints 
now  and  then,  as  well  as  to  the  children.  .  .  . 
It  is  that  part  of  our  Saviour's  character  which  I 
aim  at  imitating :  *  He  went  about  doing  good.' 
No  one  can  form  an  idea  what  benefits  he  is 
capable  of  rendering  to  the  community  by  the 
condescension  of  visiting  the  dwellings  of  the 
poor.  You  may  remember  the  place  without  the 
Southgate,  called  Littleworth;  it  used  to  be  the 
St.  Giles  of  Gloucester.  By  going  among  those 
people  I  have  totally  changed  their  manners. 
They  avow  at  this  time  that  the  place  is  quite  a 
heaven  to  what  it  used  to  be.     Some  of  the  vilest 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  125 

of  the  boys  are  now  so  exemplary  in  behaviour 

that  I  have  taken  one  into  my  own  service.     The 

stipend  to  the  teachers  here  is  a  shilling  each 

Sunday;  but  we    find    them    firing,   and  bestow 

gratuities,  as  rewards  of  diligence,  which  may  make 

it  worth  sixpence  more.     I  mention  this  as  an 

evidence  of  what  may  be  done.     But  I  fear  I  am 

growing  too  prolix,  and  that  I  shall  cause  you  to 

repent  the  opening  a  correspondence  with  your  old 

acquaintance.     I  must  now  tell  you  that   I   am 

blessed  with  six  excellent  girls,  and  two  lovely  boys. 

My  eldest  boy  was  born  the  very  day  that  I  made 

public  to  the  world  the  scheme  of  Sunday-schools, 

in  my  paper  of  November  3rd,    1783.      In  four 

years'  time  it  has  extended  so  rapidly  as  now  to 

include   250,000  children :   it  is   increasing  more 

and  more.     It  reminds  me  of  the  grain  of  mustard 

seed. 

"  I  am.  Madam, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"R.  Raikes." 

One  day,  after  the  Sunday-school  system  had 
been  in  working  about  two  years,  Raikes  invited 
some  friends  to  breakfast  at  his  own  house.  The 
window  of  the  room  in  which  the  party  assembled 
opened  into  a  small  garden,   and  in  this  garden 


126  Robert  Raikes. 


were  seated,  in  rows  one  above  the  other,  the 
neatly-dressed  children  of  one  of  the  first  Sunday- 
schools.  They  were  purposely  exhibited  to  the 
breakfast  party,  to  excite  interest  in  the  design; 
but  so  little  were  the  momentous  consequences 
then  appreciated  that  a  Quaker  lady  rebuked  Mr. 
Raikes  in  these  words,  "  Friend  Raikes,  when  thou 
doest  charitably,  thy  right  hand  should  not  know 
what  thy  left  hand  doeth."  The  fair  Quaker  (adds 
the  relator  of  the  story)  might  have  forgotten  that 
there  is  another  text,  which  says,  "  Let  your  light 
so  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good 
works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven." 

Raikes'  relations  to  individual  scholars  are 
pleasingly  illustrated  by  several  interesting  anec- 
dotes, one  of  which  is  related  by  himself  as 
follows  : — 

"  One  day,  as  I  was  going  to  church,  I  overtook 
a  soldier  just  entering  the  church  door :  this  was 
on  a  week-day.  As  I  passed  him  I  said  it  gave 
me  pleasure  to  see  that  he  was  going  to  a  place  of 
worship.  *Ah,  sir!'  said  he,  *I  may  thank  you 
for  that.'  *Me?'  said  I;  *why,  I  don't  know 
that  I  ever  saw  you  before.'  *Sir,'  replied  the 
soldier,  *  when  I  was  a  little  boy,  I  was  indebted 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  127 

to  you  for  my  first  instruction  in  my  duty.  I  used 
to  meet  you  at  the  morning  service  in  this  Cathe- 
dral, and  was  one  of  your  Sunday  scholars.  My 
father,  when  he  left  this  city,  took  me  into  Berk- 
shire, and  put  me  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker.  I 
used  often  to  think  of  you.  At  length  I  went  to 
London,  and  was  there  drawn  to  serve  as  a  militia- 
man in  the  Westminster  militia.  I  came  to 
Gloucester  last  night  with  a  deserter,  and  took  the 
opportunity  of  coming  this  morning  to  \dsit  the 
old  spot,  and  in  hope  of  once  more  seeing  you.' 
He  then  told  me  his  name,  and  brought  himself 
to  my  recollection  by  a  curious  circumstance 
which  happened  whilst  he  was  at  school.  His 
father  was  a  journeyman  currier,  a  most  vile,  pro- 
fligate man.  After  the  boy  had  been  some  time 
at  school,  he  came  one  day  and  told  me  that  his 
father  was  wonderfully  changed,  and  that  he  had 
left  off  going  to  the  alehouse  on  a  Sunday.  It 
happened  soon  after  that  I  met  the  man  in  the 
street,  and  said  to  him,  *  My  friend,  it  gives  me 
great  pleasure  to  hear  that  you  have  left  off  going 
to  the  alehouse  on  the  Sunday ;  your  son  tells  me 
that  you  now  stay  at  home  and  never  get  tipsy.' 
He  immediately  replied  that  I  had  been  the  means 
of  this  change  being  produced.     On  my  expressing 

9 


128  Robert  Raikes, 


my  surprise  at  this,  on  account  of  never  having  so 
much  as  spoken  to  him  before,  he  repHed,  'No, 
sir,  but  the  good  instruction  which  you  give  my. 
boy  at  the  Sunday-school  he  repeats  to  me ;  and 
this  has  so  convinced  me  of  the  error  of  my  former 
hfe  as  to  have  led  to  my  present  reformation.' " 

Raikes'  statement  that  he  always  admonished 
his  scholars  "  in  the  mildest  and  gentlest  manner  " 
is  borne  out  by  the  following  story:  A  sulky, 
stubborn  girl,  who  had  resisted  both  reproofs  and 
correction,  and  who  refused  to  ask  forgiveness  of 
her  mother,  was  melted  by  his  saying  to  her, 
"  Well,  if  you  have  no  regard  for  yourself,  I  have 
much  for  you ;  you  will  be  ruined  and  lost  if  you 
do  not  become  a  good  girl;  and  if  you  will  not 
humble  yourself,  I  must  humble  myself,  and  make 
a  beginning  for  you."  He  then,  with  much 
solemnity,  entreated  the  mother  to  forgive  hex. 
This  overcame  the  girl's  pride;  she  burst  into 
tears,  and,  on  her  knees,  begged  forgiveness,  and 
never  gave  any  trouble  afterwards. 

A  touching  story  of  another  of  Raikes'  scholars 
is  told  in  a  small  pamphlet  published  some  years 
ago,  entitled  "The  Sea-Boy's  Grave."  The  writer 
relates  that  he  once  voyaged  home  from  the  West 
Indies  in  a  ship  on  board  of  which  were  a  notori- 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  129 

ously  wicked  sailor  and  a  cabin  boy  who  had  re- 
ceived instruction  in  one  of  Raikes'  Gloucester 
schools.  The  boy's  name  was  Pelham,  but  among 
the  crew  he  was  kno^vn  as  "Jack  Raikes."  In 
the  course  of  the  voyage  the  sailor  was  struck 
down  with  fever,  and  as  he  daily  grew  worse  it  was 
feared  that  he  would  die  unrepentant  and  without 
hope.  "Jack  Raikes,"  however,  obtained  leave  to 
nurse  him.  He  watched  over  him  with  womanly 
tenderness,  told  him  of  the  Saviour  he  had  learnt 
about  at  school,  and  prayed  mth  him  constantly 
and  earnestly  for  salvation  in  the  Saviour's  name. 
After  a  while  the  hard  heart  melted,  and  bitterly 
were  the  sins  of  a  past  misspent  life  deplored. 
Then  came  to  this  poor  seaman,  in  quick  succes- 
sion, the  blessed  consciousness  of  the  Saviour's 
forgiving  love,  and  a  triumphant  entrance  into 
God's  kingdom  of  glory.  A  few  days  afterwards 
a  storm  came  on.  The  stout  ship,  while  nearing 
her  destination,  was  driven  far  out  of  her  course. 
With  relentless  fury  the  tempest  hurried  her  to 
destruction  on  a  sunken  rock  off  the  northern 
coast  of  Scotland,  and  the  sailors,  as  a  last  chance, 
took  to  the  boats.  The  boat  in  which  "Jack 
Raikes  "  found  a  place  was  soon  overturned  by  the 
angry  waves,    and    next  morning    his  body   was 


130  Robert  Raikes. 


among  the  number  of  those  that  strewed  the 
neighbouring  shore.  The  writer  of  the  narrative, 
who  got  safely  to  land  with  a  spar  to  which  he  had 
lashed  himself,  thus  describes  the  appearance  of 
poor  Jack  as  he  saw  him  lying  on  the  floor  of  the 
village  alehouse,  whither,  with  the  other  victims 
of  the  wreck,  he  had  been  carried  :  "  His  coun- 
tenance wore  a  sweet  and  heavenly  expression, 
and  stooping  down,  I  robbed  his  bare  head  of  a 
little  lock  of  auburn  hair  that  lay  upon  his  temple. 
His  effects — alas !  how  poor,  and  yet  how  rich — 
were  spread  upon  the  table  in  the  room,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  little  leather  purse  in  which  were  a 
well-kept  half-crown  and  a  solitary  sixpence.  His 
Bible,  which  he  had  ever  counted  his  chief  riches, 
and  from  which  he  had  derived  treasures  of  wisdom, 
was  placed  by  his  side.  I  took  it  up,  and  ob- 
served engraved  on  its  clasps  of  brass  these  words  : 
'  The  gift  of  Robert  Raikes  to  J.  R.  Pelham.'  *  Oh, 
Raikes,'  thought  I,  *  this  is  one  gem  of  purest  light 
indeed ;  still,  it  is  but  one  of  the  many  thousand 
gems  which  shall  encircle  thy  radiant  head  in  that 
day  when  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  make  up  His 
jewels.' " 

Another  sailor  to  whom  Raikes  (probably  while 
visiting  some  family  connections  in  Hertfordshire) 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  131 

gave  a  Bible  was  present  in  the  year  1836  at  a  tea- 
meeting  in  connection  with  the  Tottenham  Court 
Chapel,  London,  whose  pastor  spoke  of  him  as  *'  a 
very  enlightened  and  devoted  man."  He  was  a 
master  mariner,  named  James  North,  and  he  claimed 
to  be  one  of  the  oldest  Sunday  scholars  in  the  king 
dom.  On  the  fly-leaf  of  a  much-prized  Bible  in  his 
possession  was  inscribed  the  following  narrative  : — 

"This  Bible  was  presented  to  me  by  Mr.  Raikes,  at 
the  town  of  Hertford,  January  ist,  1781,  as  a  reward 
for  my  punctual  attendance  at  the  Sunday-school 
and  good  behaviour  when  there.  And  after  being 
my  companion  fifty-three  years,  forty-one  of  which 
I  spent  in  the  sea  service — during  which  time  I  was 
in  forty-five  engagements,  received  thirteen  wounds, 
was  three  times  ship^^Tecked,  once  burnt  out,  twice 
capsized  in  a  boat,  and  had  fevers  of  different  sorts 
fifteen  times — this  Bible  was  my  consolation,  and 
was  newly  bound  for  me  by  James  Bishop,  ot 
Edinburgh,  on  the  26th  day  of  October,  1834,  the 
day  I  completed  the  sixtieth  year  of  my  age.  As 
witness  my  hand,  James  B.  North." 

Nearly  thirty  years  after  the  establishment  of 
Raikes'  first  school  there  came  to  visit  him  in  his 


132  Robert  Raikes. 


retirement  a  young  Quaker,  named  Joseph  Lan- 
caster, to  whose  energetic  efforts  was  due  the 
formation  of  the  association  afterwards  known  as 
the  "  British  and  Foreign  School  Society,"  for 
giving  week-day  instruction  to  the  children  of  the 
poor.  At  that  time  the  founder  of  Sunday-schools 
was  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and  past  active  work, 
but  he  still  took  a  lively  interest  in  his  much-loved 
institution.  Many  were  Lancaster's  inquiries  re- 
specting the  origin  of  Sunday-schools,  and  an 
interesting  account  has  been  preserved  of  one  of 
Raikes'  replies.  Leaning  on  the  arm  of  his  visitor, 
the  old  man  led  him  through  the  thoroughfares  of 
Gloucester  to  the  spot  in  a  back  street  where  the 
first  school  was  held.  "  Pause  here,"  said  the  old 
man.  Then,  uncovering  his  head  and  closing  his 
eyes,  he  stood  for  a  moment  in  silent  prayer.  Then 
turning  towards  his  friend,  while  the  tears  rolled 
down  his  cheeks,  he  said:  "This  is  the  spot. on 
which  I  stood  when  I  saw  the  destitution  of  the  chil- 
dren and  the  desecration  of  the  Sabbath' by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city.  As  I  asked,  *  Can  nothing  be 
done?'  a  voice  answered,  'Try.'  I  did  try,  and  see 
what  God  has  ^vrought.  I  can  never  pass  by  the 
spot  where  the  word  *  try '  came  so  powerfully  into 
my  mind  without  lifting  up  my  hands  and  heart  to 


Raikes  and  his  Scholars.  133 

Heaven  in  gratitude  to  God  for  having  put  such  a 
thought  into  my  heart." 

With  equal  gratitude  we  may  be  assured  Raikes 
could  think  of  the  many  scholars  to  whom  he  had 
been  a  personal  benefactor.  Anxious  to  gain  in- 
formation as  to  the  effects  of  religious  instruction 
upon  the  youthful  mind,  Lancaster  inquired  par- 
ticularly respecting  them.  Kno\ving  that  Raikes 
was  for  many  years  a  constant  visitor  both  at  the 
county  and  city  gaols,  and  had  ample  opportunities 
of  ascertaining  whether  any  of  the  three  thousand 
children  whose  education  he  had  superintended 
had  come  within  the  prison  walls,  Lancaster  asked 
him  directly  whether  such  had  ever  been  the  case. 
Appealing  to  his  memory,  which  even  at  that  ad- 
vanced age  was  strong  and  lively,  Raikes  could 
with  confidence  answer,  "  None.** 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EARLY  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AT  WORK. 

**  The  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to  the  new." 

— Tennyson. 

PROBABLY  there  was  no  part  of  Raikes' 
flourishing  business  more  congenial  to  him 
than  the  printing  of  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
numerous  Sunday-schools  which  sprang  up  after 
his  public  promulgation  of  the  scheme.  The  rules 
for  the  Gloucester  schools  were  drawn  up  by  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Stock,  who  doubtless  framed  them  in 
accordance  with  Raikes'  own  views,  as  enunciated 
in  his  letters  already  given.  So  generally  acceptable 
did  these  rules  prove,  that  they  were  adopted  in  the 
schools  soon  afterwards  established  in  London  and 
many  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Their  purport 
may  be  judged  from  the  sketch  given  in  the  preceding 
chapter  of  the  operations  of  Raikes'  own  school. 

The  following  set  of  rules,  printed  in  1784  by 
Raikes,  and  drawn  up  by  the  Rev.  W.  Ellis,  chap- 
lain  to  Earl  Ducie,  for  use  in  the  Stroud  Sunday- 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        135 

schools,  will  serve  as  a  sample  of  the  regulations 
generally  adopted : — 

"I.  The  master  (or  dame)  appointed  by  the 
subscribers,  shall  attend  [at  his  or  her  own  house] 
every  Sunday  morning,  during  the  summer,  from  8 
till  10*30,  and  every  Sunday  evening  during  the 
summer  (except  the  second  in  every  month),  from 
half  an  hour  after  five  till  eight  o'clock,  to  teach 
reading,  the  Church  catechism,  and  some  short 
prayers  from  a  little  collection  by  Dr.  Stonehouse ; 
and  also  to  read  (or  have  read  by  some  of  those  who 
attend,  if  any  can  do  it  sufficiently)  three  or  four 
chapters  of  the  Bible  in  succession,  that  people 
may  have  connected  ideas  of  the  history  and  con- 
sistency of  the  Scriptures. 

"  III,  The  persons  to  be  taught  are  chiefly  the 
young,  who  are  past  the  usual  age  of  admission  to 
the  weekly  schools,  and  by  being  obliged  to  labour 
for  their  maintenance,  cannot  find  time  to  attend 
them.  But  grown  persons  that  cannot  read,  who 
are  desirous  of  hearing  God's  Word,  and  wish  to  learn 
that  excellent  short  account  of  the  faith  and  prac- 
tice of  a  Christian,  the  Church  catechism,  are  desired 
to  attend,  and  endeavour  to  learn,  by  hearing  the 
younger  taught  and  instructed. 


136  Robert  Raikes. 


"  III.  Some  of  the  subscribers  will  in  turn  visit 
these  schools,  to  see  that  their  design  is  duly  pur- 
sued; and  give  some  little  reward  to  the  first, 
second,  and  third  most  deserving  in  each  school. 

"  IV.  The  subscribers  will  keep  a  blank  book, 
in  which  shall  be  entered  the  names  of  all  those 
parents,  and  other  persons,  who,  having  need  of 
these  helps,  neglect  to  send  their  children,  or  to 
attend ;  and  of  those  who  behave  improperly  when 
they  attend ;  with  intent  that  they  may  be  excluded 
from  the  alms  and  other  charitable  assistance  of 
the  benevolent.  Those  who  will  take  no  care  of 
their  own  souls,  deserve  not  that  others  should 
take  care  of  their  bodies. 

"  V.  All  that  attend  these  schools  shall,  as  much 
as  may  be,  attend  the  pubHc  worship  both  morning 
and  afternoon  on  Sunday;  and  shall  assemble  at 
church  on  the  second  evening  of  every  month,  at 
six  o'clock,  to  be  examined,  and  to  hear  a  plain 
exposition  of  the  catechism,  which  the  minister 
will  endeavour  to  give  them." 

In  explanation  of  the  above  rules,  Mr.  Ellis 
added : — 

"As  an  early  habit  of  reverencing  and  rightly 
using  the  Sabbath  must  be  laid  in  the  rising  gene- 
ration, as  one  of  the  foundation  stones  of  that 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        137 

reformation  devoutly  wished  for  by  all  serious 
persons,  the  attendance  on  public  worship  is  parti- 
cularly insisted  on.  To  promote  which  some  ot 
the  rewards  to  be  given  are  the  most  necessary 
articles  of  apparel ;  and  through  the  failure  of  the 
clothing  manufacture  in  this  county,  these  are 
wanting  to  many  who  do,  and  to  more  that  would, 
attend  these  schools.  Some  of  the  children,  who 
are  brought  up  to  other  communions,  are  enjoined 
to  attend  their  respective  places  of  worship  con- 
stantly and  devoutly,  and  required  to  give  an 
account  of  the  preacher's  text.  The  other  rewards 
are  Bibles  of  different  sizes.  New  Testaments,  Dr. 
Stonehouse's  '  Prayer  for  private  persons,  families,' 
etc.  (mentioned,  rule  the  ist),  'Admonitions  against 
swearing,  Sabbath-breaking,  and  drunkenness,'  cate- 
chisms, and  papers  of  hymns.  The  time  before 
divine  service  in  the  morning  is  employed  in  learn- 
ing to  spell  and  read.  The  reading  in  the  evening 
is  performed  by  those  who  can  read  fluently,  as 
it  is  intended  for  the  edification  of  all.  The  rules 
are  read  every  Sunday  evening  as  soon  as  the 
children  are  assembled.  After  reading  three,  four, 
or  five  chapters  of  the  Bible  (more  or  less,  as  the 
connection  of  the  passage  may  require)  the  prayers 
are  repeated.     The  youngest  are  taught  first  Dr. 


138  "         Robert  Raikes. 


Watts'  short  prayers,  pages  42  and  43  of  the  above- 
mentioned  collection;  when  they  are  perfect  in 
these,  they  learn  the  additions  to  them ;  and  per- 
sons of  more  advanced  age  learn  the  longer  prayers 
of  Bishop  Wilson  and  Bishop  Gibson.  While  one 
is  speaking  aloud  the  prayer,  or  answer  of  the 
catechism,  all  the  rest  are  required  to  repeat  the 
same  in  a  whisper ;  by  which  inattention  and 
trifling  are  in  a  great  measure  prevented,  and  a 
rapid  progress  is  made  in  fixing  what  is  to  be 
learned  in  the  memory.  The  minister  and  some 
of  the  subscribers  attend  one  of  these  schools 
every  Sunday  evening,  and  make  such  familiar  ob- 
servations on  the  Scripture  and  catechism  as  they 
think  adapted  to  such  young  minds.  The  most 
deficient  scholars  attend  one  or  two  other  evenings 
in  the  week,  for  about  two  hours,  at  the  house  of 
the  master  or  dame.  The  teachers  are  sober, 
serious  persons,  whose  conscientious  assiduity  may 
be  depended  on,  and  whose  indigent  circumstances 
make  the  moderate  pay  of  one  shiUing  per  Sunday 
an  acceptable  recompense." 

Among  the  rules,  for  the  most  part  similar  to  the 
above,  adopted  at  Tetbury,  Gloucestershire,  were 
the  following : — 

"  That  nothing  whatever  be  taught  in  the  schools 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        1 39 

but  what  is  suited  immediately  to  the  design  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  preserving  young  people  from  idleness, 
immorality,  and  ignorance. 

"  That  the  subscribers,  the  visitors  of  the  school, 
the  churchwardens,  and  the  sidesmen  be  requested 
to  pay  what  attention  they  can  to  the  streets  and 
environs  of  the  tOAvn  in  order  to  prevent  people 
from  idling  about  and  playing  on  the  Lord's  day. 

"That  the  Committee  call  in  a  person  of  the 
faculty  to  examine  the  children  if  they  have  any 
cutaneous  disorder." 

The  Rev.  W.  Bickerstaffe,  curate  of  Ayleston, 
Leicestershire,  writing  to  his  parishioners  in  1786 
respecting  a  proposed  Sunday-school,  recommended 
them  to  admit  fifty  scholars,  of  an  equal  number  of 
each  sex,  from  the  age  of  seven  upwards,  to  be 
taught  in  the*  church  by  two  masters,  from  eight 
to  eleven  in  the  morning  and  three  to  five  in  the 
afternoon,  the  head  master  to  be  paid  \s.  6d.  a 
Sunday,  and  the  second  master  is.  "  In  Leicester," 
continued  Mr.  Bickerstaffe,  "each  teacher  has 
thirty-five  scholars,  and  the  masters  are  allowed  2s. 
a  day,  the  mistresses  is.  6d. ;  though  I  know  no 
reason  for  the  diiference." 

One  of  the  books  for  the  use  of  Sunday-schools 
issued  from   Raikes'  press  contains  an  interesting 


140  Robert  Raikes. 


sketch  of  the  first  schools  established  in  the  village 
of  Boughton  Blean,  Kent.  The  idea  was  suggested 
to  the  vicar  of  the  parish  (the  Rev.  C.  Moore,  who 
was  also  rector  of  Cuxton)  by  the  example  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hearne,  a  Canterbury  clergyman,  who 
started  the  first  schools  in  the  county  of  Kent  at 
Canterbury,  in  January,  1785.  Mr.  Hearne  was  a 
warm  admirer  of  Raikes'  institution,  and  on  Mr. 
Moore  proposing  to  establish  schools  at  Boughton 
Blean,  Mr.  Hearne,  knowing  that  the  150  families 
who  resided  there  were  mostly  poor,  promised  a 
liberal  subscription  in  aid  of  the  undertaking.  Mr. 
Moore  thereupon  set  to  work.  He  visited  every 
house  in  his  parish,  obtaining  subscriptions  from 
the  rich  and  scholars  from  the  poor.  He  engaged 
a  man  and  his  wife  in  one  part  of  the  village,  and 
a  woman  in  another,  to  conduct  schools  in  their 
respective  houses,  and  regularly  to  take  the  children 
to  church,  where  special  seats  were  to  be  apjDro 
priated  for  them.  The  opening  of  the  schools 
was  then  publicly  announced,  their  objects  being 
detailed  as  follows  : — 

"  To  furnish  opportunities  of  instruction  to  the 
children  of  the  poorer  part  of  the  parish,  without 
interfering  with  any  industry  of  the  week-days ;  ancj 


Early  Stmday-schools  at  Work.        141 

to  inure  children  to  early  habits  of  going  to  church 
and  to  spend  the  leisure  hours  of  Sunday  decently 
and  virtuously.  The  children  are  to  be  taught  to 
read,  and  to  be  instructed  in  the  plain  duties  of 
the  Christian  religion,  with  a  particular  view  to 
their  good  and  industrious  behaviour  in  their 
future  character  of  labourers  and  servants." 

The  school  hours  at  Boughton  were  from  eight  to 
ten,  followed  by  morning  service  at  the  church;  and 
from  two  to  six.  No  children  were  admitted  under 
five  years  of  age.  The  annual  expenses  were  about 
;!^  1 6  a  year. 

The  little  book  from  v/hich  these  details  respect- 
ing Boughton  are  taken  furnishes  a  curious  speci- 
men of  the  instruction  bestowed  upon  the  scholars 
in  the  first  Sunday-schools.  It  was  printed  in  1794. 
In  size  it  is  about  four  inches  square ;  it  contains 
120  pages ;  and  its  title  is  as  follows  :  "The  Sun- 
day Scholar's  Companion;  consisting  of  Scripture 
sentences,  disposed  in  such  order  as  will  quickly 
ground  Young  Learners  in  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  our  most  Holy  Religion,  and  at  the  same 
time  lead  them  pleasantly  on  from  simple  and  easy 
to  compound  and  difficult  words."  The  first  half  of 
the  book  is  occupied  mXh.  alphabet  tables,  lists  of 


142  Robert  Raikes, 


short  words  and  short  sentences  arranged  into 
lessons,  beginning  with  sentences  composed  ot 
words  of  one  syllable,  and  thence  advancing  to 
more  difficult  exercises.  As  the  title  indicates, 
most  of  these  sentences  are  taken  from  Holy 
Scripture,  but  some  are  obviously  from  uninspired 
sources  ;  such,  for  example,  are  the  following : — 

"  The  talk  of  him  that  swears  much  makes  the 
hair  to  stand  up." 

"  Strive  not  with  a  man  that  is  full  of  words,  and 
lay  no  sticks  on  his  fire." 

"  Laugh  not  a  lame  man  to  scorn." 
"  Hast  thou  found  honey  ?  eat  only  so  much  as 
is  sufficient  for  thee,  lest  thou  be  filled  therewith 
and  vomit  it." 

"The  man  that  is  accustomed  to  opprobrious 
words  will  never  be  reformed  all  the  days  of  his  life." 
After  these  reading  exercises  come  the  Church 
catechism  and  some  extracts  from  Dr.  Watts* 
"  Advice  to  Children  respecting  Prayer,"  in  which 
the  scholars  are  warned  against  the  "shamefully 
lazy  and  disrespectful  custom  "  of  repeating  their 
prayers  in  bed,  and  recommended  to  learn  their 
prayers  by  heart,  so  as  to  be  able  to  say  them  in 
the  dark.  The  remainder  of  the  book  comprises 
prayers  for  children,  an  elementary  catechism  on 


Early  Stmday-schoals  at  Work.        143 

the  principles  and  proofs  of  Christianity,  a  series  of 
collects,  and  a  few  hymns.  Another  text-book  for 
use  in  Sunday-schools  was  compiled  by  no  less  a 
person  than  ]Mr.  Jonas  Hanway,  the  great  traveller, 
who  played  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  charitable 
world  of  that  day.  His  compilation  was  entitled, 
"A  comprehensive  sentimental  book  for  scholars 
learning  in  Sunday-schools,  containing  the  alphabet, 
numbers,  spelling,  moral  and  religious  lessons, 
lectures,  stories,  and  prayers,  suited  to  the  grow- 
ing powers  of  children,  and  for  the  advancing  in 
happiness  of  the  rising  generation."  With  this 
work  was  also  published  in  1786,  by  the  same 
author,  a  "  Comprehensive  view  of  Sunday-schools," 
in  which  the  new  institution  was  earnestly  recom- 
mended for  general  adoption. 

Hitherto  our  examples  of  early  Sunday-school 
work  have  been  taken  principally  from  the  rural 
districts  and  small  provincial  to\vns.  Turn  we 
now  to  the  thriving  manufacturing  centres  of  the 
north.  At  Leeds,  in  1784,  the  town  was  divided 
into  seven  divisions,  and  had  twenty-six  schools, 
containing  about  2,000  scholars,  taught  by  forty- 
five  masters.  Each  school  commenced  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  children  being  taught 

reading,    ^vriting,   and    religion.     At    three    they 

10 


144  Robert  Raikes. 


were  taken  to  their  respective  churches,  and 
thence  conducted  back  to  school,  where  a  por- 
tion of  some  useful  book  was  read,  a  psalm  sung, 
and  the  whole  concluded  with  a  form  of  prayer. 
Boys,  and  girls  were  taught  separately.  There  were 
four  "  inquisitors " — persons  whose  office  it  was 
to  spend  Sunday  afternoon  in  visiting  the  schools 
to  ascertain  who  were  absent,  and  in  then  seeking 
the  absentees  at  their  homes  or  in  the  streets. 
The  masters  were  mostly  pious  men,  and  were 
paid  from  one  to  two  shillings  a  Sunday  for  their 
services,  according  to  their  quaUfications.  Each 
had  a  written  list  of  his  scholars'  names,  which  he 
was  required  to  call  over  every  Sunday  at  half-past 
one  and  half-past  five.  Five  clergymen  visited 
the  schools  and  gave  addresses,  and  the  expenses 
of  the  first  year,  ending  in  July  1784,  were  about 
;^234.  Nowhere  was  Raikes'  idea  more  eagerly 
welcomed  than  in  Stockport,  where  a  committee 
was  formed  in  1784  to  give  that  idea  effect.  The 
town  was  divided  into  six  parts,  with  a  school  in 
each.  The  schools  were  under  the  management 
of  a  committee  of  gentlemen  belonging  to  various 
sections  of  the  Christian  Church :  for  some  time 
an  Episcopalian  clergyman  was  treasurer,  a  Uni- 
tarian secretary,  and  a  Wesleyan  librarian.     Col- 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        145 

lections  were  made  periodically  in  the  churches 
and  chapels  of  the  town  for  the  support  of  the 
schools,  and  for  a  while  the  teachers  were  each 
paid  li".  dd.  per  Sunday  for  their  services.  Out  of 
this  scheme  grew  the  institution  ^now  under  the 
gracious  patronage  of  Her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria, 
and  kno\vn  as  the  Stockport  Sunday-school,  whose 
annual  income  exceeds  ^£'1,000,  and  whose  pre- 
mises include  a  room  capable  of  seating  2,000  per- 
sons. 

John  Wesley,  in  his  journal  (April  20th,  1788), 
makes  an  interesting  reference  to  the  Sunday- 
schools  at  Bolton.     He  says  : — 

"About  three  I  met  between  900  and  1,000 
of  the  children  belonging  to  our  Sunday-schools. 
They  were  all  exactly  clean,  as  well  as  plain,  in 
their  apparel.  All  were  serious  and  well-behaved. 
Many,  both  boys  and  girls,  had  as  beautiful  faces 
as  I  believe  England  or  Europe  could  afford 
When  they  all  sang  together,  and  none  of  them 
out  of  tune,  the  melody  was  beyond  that  of  any 
theatre ;  and  what  is  best  of  all,  many  of  them 
truly  fear  God,  and  some  rejoice  in  His  salvation. 
These  are  the  pattern  of  the  to^vn.  Their  usual 
diversion  is  to  visit  the  poor  that  are  sick  (some- 
times six  or   eight  or  ten  together),   to  exhort, 


146  Robert  Raikes. 


comfort,  and  pray  with  them.  Frequently  ten  01 
more  of  them  get  together  to  sing  or  pray  by 
themselves,  sometimes  thirty  or  forty ;  and  are  so 
earnestly  engaged,  alternately  singing,  praying,  and 
crying,  that  they  know  not  how  to  part." 

The  managers  of  the  early  Sunday-schools  did 
not  always  content  themselves  with  providing  food 
for  the  mind.  In  some  instances  they  were  accus- 
tomed also  to  provide  food  and  clothing  for  the 
body.  The  village  of  Painswick,  near  Gloucester, 
in  which  Raikes  took  a  deep  interest,  furnishes  an 
example  in  point.  Raikes  records  that  on  the  day 
after  Christmas  Day,  1785,  a  bountiful  dinner  of 
beef,  pudding,  and  potatoes  was  given  to  the 
children,  350  in  number,  attending  the  Pains- 
wick schools,  the  donors  of  the  feast  themselves 
officiating  as  carvers  and  waiters.  To  show  how 
welcome  this  feast  must  have  been,  Raikes  adds  : — 

"  When  the  meal  was  set  before  one  boy  it  was 
observed  that  he  could  not  eat.  He  was  asked  the 
reason,  and  the  poor  wretch  said  it  was  three  days 
since  he  had  had  any  food,  and  his  stomach  was 
gone.  However,  by  taking  a  little,  his  appetite  at 
last  returned.  Another  was  asked  if  he  had  eaten 
so  plentiful  a  meal  this  twelve-months.  *  No,  nor 
these  three  twelve-months/  replied  the  boy." 


Early  Sunday -schools  at  Work.        147 

At  the  same  school  at  Painsmck  the  children 
were  encouraged  to  provide  themselves  clothing  by 
subscribing  to  a  clothing-club  in  connection  with 
the  school.  Each  child  brought  a  penny  weekly, 
and  as  his  name  was  called  dropped  it  into  a  box. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  the  total  thus  gained  (one 
year  it  amounted'to  ;£"36)  was  materially  increased 
by  contributions  from  charitable  persons,  and  the 
whole  was  expended  in  clothing  for  the  children. 
This  plan,  it  was  found,  promoted  a  healthy  spirit 
of  self-reliance  among  the  scholars,  each  one 
priding  himself  upon  having  contributed  towards 
the  cost  of  his  own  garments.  "  Such  is  the 
emulation,"  wrote  one  of  Raikes'  correspondents, 
"at  Painswick  to  make  a  neat  appearance  on 
Sundays,  that  shoes  and  buckles  are  now  cleaned 
by  those  who  formerly  had  none  to  wear.  To  a 
person  who  expressed  his  surprise  at  seeing  a  boy 
so  well  clad,  *  Oh,  sir,'  said  the  boy,  '  I  paid 
three  shillings  towards  it  myself  '  There  is  a  poor 
boy  all  in  rags,' replied  the  person,  'why  are  you 
so  much  better  clothed  than  he  ?  '  '  He  does  not 
belong  to  our   parish,'  said  the   boy.     'We  have 

none  so  ragged  in  our  parish.     He  belongs  to ^ 

where  no  care  is  taken  of  poor  boys.     More  re- 
gard is  paid  to  hogs  there  than  to  the  children  of 


143  Robert  Raikes, 


the  poor;  the  former  are  well  looked  after  and 
have  their  bellies  filled,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
the  latter  :  they  are  almost  starved.' " 

That  the  school  at  Painswick  was  in  some 
respects  a  model  institution  of  its  kind  is  shown  by 
the  following  anecdote  preserved  by  Raikes  in  his 
newspaper : —  • 

"A  person  sent  as  a  present  lately,  by  one 
of  the  teachers,  to  the  boys  who  attend  the 
Sunday-schools  at  Painswick,  a  dozen  of  Mrs. 
Trimmer's  Servants  Friend,  one  of  the  most  useful 
publications  in  our  language  for  the  children  of  the 
common  people.  The  same  person  inquiring  the 
other  day  whether  the  books  had  been  distributed 
was  answered  in  the  negative.  '  Out  of  a  hundred 
boys  under  my  care,'  said  the  teacher,  *I  find 
seventy  equally  worthy  of  encouragement,  by  their 
freedom  from  vice  and  profaneness,  and  their 
decency  in  behaviour  and  cleanliness;  and  I 
therefore  shall  be  obliged  to  decide  the  distribu- 
tion by  lot. ' " 

V  Connected  with  some  of  the  early  Sunday-schools 
were  kindred  institutions,  called  "  Schools  of 
Industry,"  for   week-day   instruction   in   industrial 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        149 

arts.     Mrs.  Trimmer,  a  charitable  lady  well  known 
to  posterity  as  the  author  of  "  The  Story  of  the 
Robins,"   propounded    the    scheme    in    a   book 
entitled  "  The  Economy  of  Charity,"  and  among 
other  places   where   it    was   adopted  were    Bath, 
Cardiff,  Abergavenny,  and  Cheltenham.     At  Bath, 
we  are  told,  the  School  of  Industry  contained  180 
children,  selected  from  the  Sunday-schools  of  the 
city,  and  employed  as  follows :  Thirty  little  boys, 
to  knit  stockings  and  garters   and  make  garden 
nets;    thirty   little    girls,    to    knit    stockings    and 
garters ;  thirty  boys  and  thirty  girls,  to  spin  wool 
for  cloth  and  worsted ;  thirty  girls,  to  spin  flax  for 
linen  ;  and   thirty   girls,   to  sew,  make   the   linen, 
clothes,   etc.     The  boys   were  clad  in  coats  and______ 

waistcoats  of  olive-coloured  serge,  leather  breeches, 
and  serge  caps  with  the  words  "Reward  of  In- 
dustry "  round  them.  The  girls  wore  jackets  and 
petticoats  of  serge,  and  linen  tippets  and  caps, 
also  inscribed  "  Reward  of  Industry "  in  worsted. 
All  the  children  were  taught  to  read  and  attend 
Sunday-schools.  The  elder  girls  were  trained  to 
discharge  the  household  duties  of  the  establish- 
ment, with  a  view  to  making  them  good  domestic 
servants.  The  School  of  Industry  at  Cheltenham 
was  under  very    distinguished  patronage.     Among 


1 50  Robert  Raikes, 


the  annual  subscribers  to  its  funds  were  Queen 
Charlotte,  the  Princesses  Augusta  and  Elizabeth, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  -,  and  the  Prince  of 
Wales  (afterwards  George  IV.),  during  a  residence 
in  Cheltenham  in  1807,  presented  it  with  twenty 
guineas. 

Very  curious  to  look  back  upon  are  the  records 
of  the  anniversaries  of  the  early  Sunday-schools. 
Their  nature  may  be  judged  from  the  following 
advertisement,  which  is  a  sample  of  many  to  be 
found  in  the  pages  of  Raikes'  newspaper  : — 

*'  Mitcheldean  Sunday-schools  Anniversary. 

"On  Sunday,  August  23, 1801,  a  sermon  will  be 
preached. in  the  parish  church  of  Mitcheldean,  by 
the  Rev.  William  Parry,  D.D.,  formerly  Rector 
of  the  said  Parish,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sunday- 
schools. 

"  Mr.  Stroud,  of  the  Cathedral  at  Gloucester, 
has  kindly  offered  his  Assistance,  and  will  sing 
Boyce's  Charity  Anthem,  and  the  Opening  to 
the  Messiah,  *  Comfort  ye  my  people.^ 

"  In  the  course  of  Divine  Service  will  be  per- 
formed, by  a  select  band  of  Vocal  and  Instru- 
mental Performers,  from  Gloucester,  Worcester. 
Cheltenham,  etc.,  with  the  Double  Drums,  Trum 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        151 

pets,  etc,  the  following  Selection  from  the  works 
of  Handel,  Boyce,  Hayes,  etc  : — 

"  Overture  in  Esther.  Charity  Anthem,  '  Blessed 
is  He'  Boyce.  To  be  sung  by  Mr.  Stroud. 
Anthem,  Handel.  To  be  sung  by  Mr.  Morris. 
Overture  and  Dead  March  in  Saul.  Hallelujah 
Chorus,  Handel. 

"  In  the  Evening — Occasional  Overture,  Handel. 
Selections  from  the  Messiah,  *  Comfort  ye  my 
people^  and  ^  Every  Valley  shall  he  exalted.' 
Chorus,  ^  And  the  glory  of  the  Lord.'  Song,  ^  If 
God  he  for  us.'  Chorus,  '  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain.'  To  conclude  with  the  Corona- 
tion Anthem. 

"Vocal  Performers — Messrs.  Stroud,  Morris, 
Underwood,  Haynes  and  Sons,  Moseley,  etc.,  etc. 

"  Instrumental  Performers — Messrs.  Pucking- 
ham,  Chubb,  Gamble,  Hale,  Morris,  Alderidge, 
Hyde,  Hay  ward,  Pearce,  Wood,  etc.,  etc. 

"  Divine  Service  will  begin  at  a  Quarter  before 
Eleven  in  the  Forenoon,  and  at  Half-past  Three  in 
the  Afternoon. 

"^S^The  Performers   are  requested  to  be  in 
Mitcheldean  by  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
«  *^  'Pl^g  Ordinary  will  be  at  the  George  Inn." 


152  Robert  Raikcs. 


Respecting  another  anniversary  we  read  in  the 
announcement  that  "  in  the  course  of  the  service 
will  be  performed  a  selection  of  sacred  music,  in 
which  will  be  interspersed  three  grand  military 
symphonies  by  more  than  twenty  performers." 
It  was  the  custom  to  criticise  these  anniversary 
performances  like  concerts.  Describing  a  service 
at  Frampton,  Raikes  writes :  "  The  pieces  of 
sacred  music  introduced  in  the  course  of  the 
service  were  full  and  complete.  The  French 
horns,  kettledrums,  etc.,  had  a  fine  effect  in 
the  Coronation  Anthem  and  the  grand  Hallelu- 
jah Chorus  of  the  Messiah,  reflecting  great  credit 
on  the  band."  Quotations  similar  to  the  above 
might  be  multiplied  by  the  score,  showing  clearly 
that  it  was  the  general  practice  for  a  period  of 
some  thirty  years  after  the  estabHshment  of  Sunday- 
schools  to  enhance  the  attractions  of  anniversary 
services  by  elaborate  performances  of  sacred  music, 
both  vocal  and  instrumental.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  as  to  the  expediency  of  such  a  custom, 
it  certainly  had  the  effect  of  drawing  large 
congregations  who  contributed  towards  the  funds 
of  the  schools.  In  Raikes'  own  parish  of  St. 
Mary  de  Crypt,  Gloucester,  we  read  of  such 
anniversary  collections  as;£45,  £,\Z,  and;^6i,  on 


Early  Stmday-schools  at  Work.        153 

three  several  occasions ;  and  even  in  a  country 
parish  like  Painswick  as  much  as  jQ^^j  was  con- 
tributed on  one  Sunday.  Raikes  himself  accounts 
for  this  liberality  by  the  supposition  that  people 
were  anxious  to  show  their  gratitude  for  the 
increased  security  to  property  occasioned  by  the 
gathering  into  Sunday-schools  of  children  who 
had  previously  run  wild. 

We  cannot  conclude  this  chapter  better  than 
with  two  letters  ^vritten  by  Raikes  to  the  committee 
of  the  Society  for  the  Establishment  of  Sunday- 
schools,  describing  anniversaries  at  which  he  was 
present  at  Mitcheldean  and  Painsmck  in  1785  and 
1786  respectively.  The  first  letter,  addressed  to 
Mr.  William  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society,  was 
as  follows  : — 

**  Atig.  2(^fh,  1785. 
*'  Dear  Sir,— 

"  I  observe  by  your  letter  that  you  are  hold- 
ing a  meeting  to-morrow.  I  regret  that  I  am  not 
situated  near  enough  to  attend  it;  but  as  I  was 
present  yesterday  se'nnight  at  a  meeting  which 
is  intended  to  be  established  as  an  anniversary 
at  Mitcheldean,  a  little  town  in  this  county,  on 
the  verge  of  the   Forest   of  Dean,   it   occurs   to 


1 54  Robert  Raikes. 


me  that  a  sketch  of  the  pleasing  scene  I  there 
beheld  may  not  be  improperly  laid  before  the 
gentlemen  who  attend  your  summons  to  the  Paul's 
Head  Tavern.  Maynard  Colchester  and  William 
Lane,  Esqrs.,  two  gentlemen  of  property  in  the 
neighbourhood,  having  heard  of  the  happy  effects 
arising  from  the  attention  to  the  morals  of  the 
rising  generation  of  the  poor,  determined  to  try 
what  could  be  done  among  the  little  lawless  rabble 
who  inhabit  the  borders  of  the  Forest  near 
Mitcheldean.  About  Christmas  last  they  estab- 
lished two  schools  and  admitted  fifty  or  sixty 
scholars  of  both  sexes,  some  of  them  the  most 
ignorant,  uncivilized  beings  in  the  country.  Ten  or 
twelve  of  the  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  town 
readily  engaged  to  subscribe;  and  what  was  of 
greater  moment,  they  took  upon  themselves  the 
superintendence  of  the  establishment,  and  to  their 
zeal  may  be  ascribed,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  its 
success.  The  promoters  of  the  undertaking  did 
me  the  honour  of  inviting  me  to  dine  with  them  on 
their  anniversary,  to  witness  the  progress  that  had 
been  made  in  this  effort  at  civilization.  The  children, 
though  many  of  them  in  apparel  very  ragged,  were 
extremely  clean.  They  walked  in  great  order  two 
and  two  to  church,  where  they  were  placed  in  the 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        155 

gallery  exposed  to  the  view  of  the  whole  congre- 
gation, and  their  behaviour  during  the  service  was 
perfectly  silent  and  becoming.  In  the  repetition 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer  they  all  joined,  and  formed  a 
charm  that  made  every  heart  dilate  with  joy.  The 
clergyman  of  the  parish  (a  curate  at  ;£"26  a  year) 
gave  an  admirable  discourse  from  Mark  iv.  28. 
This  valuable  young  man  had  taken  great  pains 
in  admonishing  the  children  and  impressing  them 
with  due  notions  how  greatly  their  happiness  could 
be  increased  by  introducing  into  their  general  be- 
haviour habits  of  quietness  and  good-nature  to 
one  another.  The  tenor  of  the  argument  in  his 
discourse  was  to  prove  that  if  good  seed  be  sown 
in  the  moral,  as  in  the  natural,  world,  a  plenti- 
ful harvest  was  no  less  to  be  hoped  for;  but  we 
must  look  for  it  in  the  same  order.  It  might  be 
some  time  before  it  made  its  appearance,  and  then 
by  small  beginnings — first  the  blade,  etc.  After 
church  the  children  were  taken  to  the  inn,  where  an 
examination  took  place  of  the  progress  made  in 
reading.  I  was  highly  pleased  to  see  the  proficiency 
some  of  them  had  made.  Several  could  read  in 
the  Testament,  and  I  found  among  them  two  or 
three  with  extraordinary  memories.  They  have 
learnt  to  repeat  several  chapters.     Nearly  fifty  of 


IS6  Robert  Raikes, 


them  were  perfect  in  their  catechism,  and  all  could 
repeat  some  of  Dr.  Watts'  hymns.  The  children 
were  so  much  pleased  with  these  pieces  that  two  or 
three  of  them  could  repeat  the  whole  book.  But 
what  pleased  me  most  of  all  was  the  result  of  my 
inquiry  into  the  effect  upon  their  manners.  *  That 
boy/  said  one  of  the  gentlemen  (pointing  to  a  very 
ill-looking  lad  about  13),  *was  the  most  profligate 
little  dog  in  this  neighbourhood.  He  was  the 
leader  of  every  kind  of  mischief  and  wickedness. 
He  never  opened  his  Hps  without  a  profane  or  in- 
decent expression ;  and  now  he  is  become  orderly 
and  good-natured,  and  in  his  conversation  has 
quite  left  off  profaneness.'  After  dinner  the  gentle- 
men called  in  six  boys,  who  had  previously  been 
taught  a  hymn,  which  I  assure  you  they  sang  to 
admiration.  I  observed  that  one  of  the  singers 
was  the  boy  before  mentioned.  The  silence  that 
prevailed  among  these  children  was  remarkable. 
Their  benefactors  dined  in  a  room  adjoining,  but 
were  not  disturbed  by  their  talking." 

In  the  following  year  Raikes  sent  to  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Sunday-school  Society  an  equally 
pleasing  account  of  an  anniversary  celebration  at 
Painswick,  at  which  Mr.   William   Fox  was  also 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        157 

present.      Raikes'   account   of  the   affair  was    as 
follows : — 

"  Gentlemen, — 

"The  parish  of  Painswick  exhibited  on 
Sunday,  the  24th  ult.,  a  specimen  of  the  reform 
which  the  estabHshment  of  Sunday-schools  is  likely 
to  introduce.  An  annual  festival  has  from  time 
immemorial  been  held  on  that  day, — a  festival  that 
would  have  disgraced  the  most  heathenish  nations. 
Drunkenness  and  every  species  of  clamour,  riot, 
and  disorder,  formerly  filled  the  town  upon  this 
occasion. 

"  Mr.  Webb,  a  gentleman  who  has  exerted  his 
utmost  assiduity  in  the  conduct  of  the  Sunday- 
schools  in  Painswick,  was  lamenting  to  me  the 
sad  effects  that  might  be  naturally  expected  to 
arise  from  this  feast.  It  occurred  to  us  that  an 
attempt  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  vulgar  from 
their  former  brutal  prostitution  of  the  Lord's  day, 
by  exhibiting  to  their  view  a  striking  picture  of  the 
superior  enjoyment  to  be  derived  from  quietness, 
good  order,  and  the  exercise  of  that  benevolence 
which  Christianity  peculiarly  recommends,  was  an 
experiment  worth  hazarding.  We  thought  it  could 
do  no  mischief:  it  would  not  increase  the  evil. 


158  Robert  Raikes. 


It  was  immediately  determined  to  invite  the 
gentlemen  and  people  of  the  adjacent  parishes 
to  view  the  children  of  the  Sunday-schools,  to 
mark  their  improvement  in  cleanliness  and  be- 
haviour, and  to  observe  the  practicability  of  re- 
ducing to  a  quiet  peaceable  demeanour  the  most 
neglected  part  of  the  community,  those  who  form 
the  great  bulk  of  the  people. 

"  In  the  parish  of  Painswick  are  several  gentle- 
men who  have  a  taste  for  music  :  they  immediately 
offered  to  give  every  assistance  in  a  church  service ; 
and  my  benevolent  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Glasse, 
complied  with  our  entreaty  to  favour  us  with  a 
sermon. 

"  Mr.  Campbell,  a  very  active  justice  of  the 
peace,  Mr.  Townsend,  Mr.  Sheppard,  Mr.  Webb, 
of  Ebworth,  and  several  other  gentlemen  engaged 
to  give  their  countenance.  We  were  highly  grati- 
fied too  with  Mr.  Boddington's  company,  who  kindly 
came  from  Cheltenham  to  take  a  view  of  this  pro- 
gress in  civilization.  He  is  one  of  your  vice-presi- 
dents, and  from  his  report  you  will  receive  a  far 
more  perfect  idea  than  my  pen  can  give. 

"  On  the  Sunday  afternoon  the  town  was  filled 
with  the  usual  crowds  who  attend  the  feast ;  but 
instead  of  repairing  to  the  alehouses,  as  heretofore, 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Work.        159 

they  all  hastened  to  the  church,  which  was  filled 
in  such  a  manner  as  I  never  remember  to  have 
seen  in  any  church  in  this  county  before.  The 
galleries,  the  aisles  were  thronged  like  a  play- 
house. Drawn  up  in  a  rank  around  the  church- 
yard appeared  the  children  belonging  to  the 
different  schools,  to  the  number  of  331. 

"The  gentlemen  walked  round  to  view  them. 
It  was  a  sight  interesting  and  truly  affecting. 
Young  people,  lately  more  neglected  than  the 
cattle  in  the  field,  ignorant,  profane,  filthy, 
clamorous,  impatient  of  every  restraint,  were  here 
seen  cleanly,  quiet,  observant  of  order,  submissive, 
courteous  in  behaviour,  and  in  conversation  free 
from  that  vileness  which  marks  our  wretched 
vulgar.  The  inhabitants  of  the  town  bear  testi- 
mony to  this  change  in  their  manners.  The  ap- 
pearance of  decency  might  be  assumed  for  a  day ; 
but  the  people  among  whom  they  live  are  ready  to 
declare  that  this  is  a  character  fairly  stated.  After 
the  public  service  a  collection  for  the  benefit  of  the 
institution  was  made  at  the  doors  of  the  church. 

"  When  I  considered  that  the  bulk  of  the  con- 
gregation were  persons  of  middling  rank,  husband- 
men, and  other  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent  villages, 
I  concluded  that  the  collection,  if  it  amounted  to 

n 


i6o  Robert  Raikes. 


£2^  or  ;f  25,  might  be  deemed  a  good  one.  My 
astonishment  was  great  indeed  when  I  found  that 
the  fund  was  not  less  than  £57.  This  may  be 
accounted  for  from  the  security  which  the  estab- 
lishment of  Sunday-schools  has  given  to  the  pro- 
perty of  every  individual  in  the  neighbourhood. 
The  farmers,  etc.,  declare  that  they  and  their 
families  can  now  leave  their  houses,  gardens,  etc., 
and  frequent  the  public  worship,  without  danger 
of  depredation.  Formerly,  they  were  under  the 
necessity  cf  leaving  their  servants,  or  staying  at 
home  themselves,  as  a  guard,  and  this  was  in- 
sufficient :  the  most  vigilant  were  sometimes 
plundered.  It  is  not  then  to  be  wondered  at  that 
a  spirit  of  liberality  was  excited  on  this  occasion. 

"A  carpenter  put  a  guinea  in  the  plate,  and 
afterwards  brought  four  more  to  Mr.  Webb.  'It 
was  my  fixed  design,'  said  he,  *to  devote  the 
fund  that  I  received  for  a  certain  job  of  work  to 
the  support  of  Sunday-schools.  I  received  five 
guineas ;  one  only  I  put  in  the  plate.  It  did  not 
become  me  to  put  more;  it  would  have  looked 
like  ostentation ;  but  here  are  the  other  four,' — 
giving  them  to  Mr.  Webb.  Another  instance  of 
the  same  spirit  occurred  in  a  man  upwards  of 
eighty  years  of  age,  who  seemed  about  the  rank  of 


Early  Sunday- schools  at  Work.        i6i 

yeomanry.  ^  Oh,  that  I  should  live,'  said  he,  '  to  see 
this  day,  when  poor  children  are  thus  befriended, 
and  taught  the  road  to  peace  and  comfort  here 
and  happiness  and  heaven  hereafter ! '  The  old 
man  gave  a  guinea,  and  said  he  would  leave 
another  in  the  hands  of  a  friend  if  he  should  die 
before  the  next  anniversary.  When  the  matter  of 
the  collection  was  settled,  we  went  to  the  schools, 
to  hear  what  progress  was  made  in  reading,  etc. 
The  emulation  to  show  their  acquirements  was  so 
very  general  that  it  would  have  taken  up  a  day  to 
have  gratified  all  the  children. 

"In  the  meantime  the  to^\Ti  was  remarkably 
free  from  those  pastimes  which  used  to  disgrace 
it.  Wrestling,  quarrelling,  fighting,  were  totally 
banished  :  all  was  peace  and  tranquility. 

"  I  fear  I  have  been  too  prolix,  but  I  could  not 
convey  the  complete  idea  that  I  was  desirous  of 
imparting  to  the  generous  promoters  of  Sunday- 
schools  without  ^^Titing  these  particulars. 

"  I  forgot  to  mention  that  Mr.  Fox,  one  of  the 
worthy  members  of  your  committee,  was  present 
with  us  at  Pains^^ack. 

"The  Sunday-schools  were  first  established  at 
Painswick  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1784.  The 
children  had  been  bred  up  in  total  ignorance.     Of 


1 62  Robert  Raikes. 


the  number  that  attend  the  school  230  can  read 
in  the  Bible  or  Testament,  eighty  can  read  in  the 
'Sunday-scholar's  Companion,'  and  above  twenty- 
one  are  in  the  alphabet. 

"The  children  have  no  teaching  but  on  the 
Sunday ;  what  they  learn  at  the  leisure  hours  in  the 
week  is  the  effect  of  their  own  desire  to  improve. 
Many  have  their  books  at  their  looms,  to  seize  any 
vacant  minute  when  their  work  is  retarded  by  the 
breaking  of  threads. 

"To  relieve  the  parish  from  the  burthen  of 
clothing  these  poor  creatures,  Mr.  Webb  proposed 
that  such  children  as  by  an  increase  of  industry 
would  bring  a  penny  every  Sunday  towards  their 
clothing  should  be  assisted  by  having  that  penny 
doubled.  This  had  an  admirable  effect.  The 
children  now  regularly  bring  their  pence  every 
Sunday;  many  of  them  have  been  clothed,  and 
the  good  consequences  of  laying  up  a  little  are 
powerfully  enforced. 

"  It  is  pretty  evident  that  were  every  parish  in  this 
kingdom  blessed  with  a  man  or  two  of  Mr.  Webb's 
active  turn 'and  benevolent  mind,  the  lower  class  of 
people  in  a  few  years  would  exhibit  a  material  change 
of  character,  and  justify  that  superior  policy  which 
tends  to  prevent  crimes  rather  than  to  punish  them. 


Early  Sunday-schools  at  Worh.        163 

"  The  liberality  with  which  the  members  of  your 
Society  have  stood  forth  in  this  attempt  to  intro- 
duce a  degree  of  civilization  and  good  order  among 
the  lowest  ranks  entitles  them  to  the  thanks  of  the 
community,  and  particularly  of  an  individual  who 
wall  be  ever  proud  to  subscribe  himself, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 
"  R.  Raikes. 

<'  Gloucester,  Oct.  *]th,  1786. 

"  RS.  —  The  gentlemen  of  Painsmck  intend 
making  a  request  to  Dr.  Glasse  to-  publish  his 
sermon.  The  happy  choice  of  the  text  had  a 
remarkable  effect  in  commanding  the  attention  of 
the  audience.  The  Scriptures  could  not  have  fur- 
nished a  passage  more  literally  applicable  to  the 
subject.  It  was  taken  from  Deut.  xxxi.  12,  13  : 
'  Gather  the  people  together,  men,  and  women,  and 
children,  and  thy  stranger  that  is  mthin  thy  gates, 
that  they  may  hear,  and  that  they  may  learn,  and 
fear  the  Lord  your  God)  and  observe  to  do  all  the 
words  of  this  law :  and  that  their  children,  which 
have  not  known  anything,  may  hear,  and  learn  to 
fear  the  Lord  your  God.' " 


CHAPTER  VIIT. 

PUBLIC  LIFE. 

"  A  life  in  civil  action  warm, 
A  soul  on  highest  mission  sent.'* 

— Tennyson. 

RAIKES'  prison  and  school  labours,  even 
though  combined  with  the  duties  of  a  flou- 
rishing business,  were  far  from  sufficient  to  absorb 
his  untiring  energies.  As  became  a  leading  citizen 
of  Gloucester,  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  many- 
public  movements,  especially  those  which  were  of 
a  patriotic  or  philanthropic  nature,  or  which  gave 
him  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  hospitable  instincts. 
He  seems  to  have  found  especial  pleasure  in  enter- 
taining any  distinguished  guests  who  might  be 
visiting  his  native  city.  "  He  was  a  good-natured, 
hospitable  man,  doing  the  honours  of  the  place  to 
any  conspicuous  strangers  who  visited  it,  among 
whom  I  may  mention  the  celebrated  prison  reformer 
Howard,  whom  I  once  met  at  Mr.  Raikes'  table,  and 


Pichlic  Life.  165 


Mr.  Hanway."  So  wTites  the  Rev.  Arthur  B.  Evans^ 
formerly  master  of  the  Gloucester  Cathedral  School, 
and  curate  of  St.  Mary  de  Crypt,  Gloucester,  at 
the  time  when  Raikes  still  resided  in  the  parish. 
On  one  occasion,  probably  while  His  Royal  High- 
ness was  staying  with  his  regiment  in  Gloucester, 
Prince  William,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  nephew  of 
George  III.,  honoured  Mr.  Raikes  with  a  visit,  and 
partook  of  refreshment  at  his  house.  His  Royal 
Highness  talked  of  Sunday-schools,  and  greatly 
praised  Mr.  Raikes'  work  in  their  establishment. 
It  has  been  urged  as  an  instance  of  Mr.  Raikes' 
vanity  that  he  did  not  on  this  occasion  mention  to 
his  distinguished  visitor  the  share  which  had  been 
taken  in  the  work  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Stock ;  and 
Mr.  Raikes'  brother,  the  Rev,  Richard  Raikes,  is 
said  to  have  remarked  in  reference  to  this  omission, 
"  Never  mind ;  my  brother  has  his  reward  on  earth : 
Mr.  Stock  will  have  his  in  Heaven."  It  seems,  how- 
ever, a  little  unreasonable  to  accuse  Raikes  of  vanity 
simply  on  the  supposition  (unsupported  by  evidence) 
that  in  a  short  interview  with  a  royal  prince  he  did 
not  detail  to  him  all  the  circumstances  of  an  event 
to  which  the  prince,  in  all  probability,  referred  only 
out  of  politeness  to  his  host.  History  nowhere 
records  that  Prince  William  of  Gloucester  took  any 


1 66  Robert  Raikes, 


special  interest  in  the  subject  of  Sunday-schools, 
and  his  remarks  respecting  them  to  Mr.  Raikes  were 
doubtless  of  a  purely  complimentary  nature.  Under 
such  circumstances  etiquette  would  forbid  anything 
more  than  polite  assent  on  the  part  of  Raikes. 
Had  he  presumed  to  enlarge  on  the  respective 
merits  of  Stock  and  himself  his  conduct  would 
have  savoured  of  rudeness  as  well  as  vanity.  As  it 
was,  there  appears  in  the  story  handed  down  to  us 
no  evidence  of  either. 

Another  occasion  on  which  Raikes  was  brought 
into  contact  with  the  royal  family  was  in  1788,  when 
George  III.,  Queen  Charlotte,  the  Princess  Royal, 
and  the  Princesses  Augusta  and  Elizabeth  spent 
a  month  at  Cheltenham,  then,  as  now,  a  fashion- 
able health  resort..  The  royal  party  arrived  in 
Cheltenham  (which  Is  distant  about  nine  miles 
from  Gloucester)  on  the  evening  of  Saturday,  July 
1 2th,  and  took  up  their  residence  at  Fauconberg 
Hall,  which  had  been  prepared  for  their  reception. 
Among  their  attendants  was  Miss  Burney  (after- 
wards Madame  D'Arblay),  in  whose  "Diary  and 
Letters  "  the  following  account  is  given  of  a  visit 
to  Raikes  on  July  19th,  1788,  by  which  time  the 
royal  party  had  been  at  Cheltenham  a  week : — 

"  The  Queen  commanded  Miss  Planta  and  me 


Public  Life.  1 67 


to  take  an  airing  to  Gloucester,  and  amuse  ourselves 
as  well  as  we  could.  Miss  Planta  had  a  previous 
slight  acquaintance  \\'ith  Mr.  Raikes,  and  to  his 
house  therefore  we  drove.  Mr.  Raikes  was  the 
original  founder  of  Sunday-schools,  an  institution 
so  admirable,  so  fraught,  I  hope,  with  future  good 
and  mercy  to  generations  yet  unborn,  that  I  saw 
almost  \vith  reverence  the  man  who  had  first 
suggested  it.  He  lives  at  Gloucester  with  his  wife 
and  a  large  family.  They  all  received  us  with  open 
arms.  I  was  quite  amazed,  but  soon  found  that 
some  of  the  pages  had  been  mth  them  already, 
and  announced  our  design ;  and  as  we  followed 
the  pages,  perhaps  they  concluded  that  we  also 
were  messengers,  or  avant  courihres,  of  what  else 
might  be  expected.  Mr.  Raikes  is  not  a  man  that 
without  a  previous  disposition  toward  approbation 
I  should  greatly  have  admired.  He  is  somewhat 
too  flourishing,  somewhat  too  forward,  somewhat 
too  voluble;  but  he  is  witty,  benevolent,  good- 
natured,  and  good-hearted,  and  therefore  the  over- 
flo^\dng  of  successful  spirits  and  deHghted  vanity 
must  meet  \vith  some  allowance.  His  wife  is  a 
quiet  and  unpretending  woman.  His  daughters 
seem  common  sort  of  country  misses.  They  seem 
to  live  with  great  hospitality,  plenty,  and  good 


1 68  Robert  Raikes, 

cheer.     They  gave  us  a  grand  breakfast  and  then 
did  the  honours  of  their  city." 

Miss  Burney  mentions  among  the  sights  she  was 
shown  in  Gloucester  "  the  fine  old  cathedral,"  the 
gaol,  and  the  infirmary.  The  Raikeses  would  not 
take  her  to  the  pin  manufactory  on  account  of  the 
dirt  in  that  quarter  of  the  city.  Continuing  her 
diary,  she  says :  "  It  was  all  interesting  to  see^ 
though  I  will  not  detail  it,  for  any  Gloucester  guide 
would  beat  me  hollow  at  that."  She  concludes  her 
account  of  this  visit  thus : — 

"  Mr.  Raikes  is  a  very  principal  man  in  all  these 
benevolent  institutions,  and  while  I  poured  forth 
my  satisfaction  in  them  very  copiously  and  warmly, 
he  hinted  a  question  whether  I  could  name  them 
to  the  Queen.  '  Beyond  doubt,'  I  answered,  '  for 
they  are  precisely  the  things  which  most  interest 
Her  Majesty's  humanity.'  The  joy  with  which  he 
heard  this  was  nothing  short  of  rapture.  The  King 
and  Queen  intend  going  to  Gloucester  soon." 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  narrative  that  Mr. 
Raikes,  "witty,  benevolent,  good-natured,  and 
good-hearted"  as  he  is  said  to  have  been,  had 
scarcely  enough  self-restraint  to  please  Miss 
Burney.      The   thriving    citizen  was   a  little  too 


Public  Life,  169 


exuberant  in  his  enthusiasm  to  please  the  courtly 
lady.  Probably  if  he  could  have  simulated  a  little 
high-bred  insoucia7ice  he  would  have  found  more 
favour  in  her  eyes.  Yet.  after  all,  it  was  but  the 
manner  of  the  man  that  she  objected  to :  of  the 
man  himself  she  speaks  in  terms  of  the  warmest 
praise.  Raikes'  desire  to  have  his  benevolent  enter- 
prises brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Queen  was 
doubtless  inspired  by  the  recollection  of  the  interest 
Her  Majesty  had  taken  in  the  subject  of  Sunday- 
schools  in  the  memorable  interview  (referred  to  in 
a  previous  chapter)  to  which  she  had  invited  him 
at  Windsor  not  many  months  before. 

The  visit  to  Gloucester,  which  Miss  Burney  says 
the  King  and  Queen  contemplated,  came  off  on 
Thursday,  July  24th.  The  King  and  Queen,  with  the 
three  Princesses  and  several  members  of  their  suite, 
arrived  at  the  Bishop's  palace  about  eleven  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  "  were  received,"  says  Raikes, 
"by  the  Bishop  and  his  lady,  Mrs.  Halifax;  their 
fine  young  family,  dressed  in  a  judicious  style  of 
neat  simplicity,  being  prepared  to  strew  the  way  with 
flowers."  Loyal  addresses  were  then  presented  to 
the  King  by  the  Bishop  on  behalf  of  the  clergy,  and 
by  the  Mayor  on  behalf  of  the  corporation  and 
citizens.    Visits  were  then  paid  by  the  royal  party  to 


I/O  Robert  Raikes, 


the  Cathedral,  the  pin  manufactory,  the  infirmary, 
and  the  new  prison,  after  which  refreshments  were 
partaken  of  at  the  Bishop's  palace,  and  the  King, 
Queen,  and  Princesses,  with  their  attendants,  returned 
to  Cheltenham.  At  the  infirmary  their  Majesties 
expressed  great  satisfaction  at  the  universal  clean- 
liness and  neatness  which  they  observed;  and 
respecting  the  new  prison  the  King  said  he  never 
saw  any  structure  executed  with  more  judgment 
and  masterly  workmanship.  Two  more  visits  were 
paid  by  the  King  to  Gloucester  during  his  stay  at 
Cheltenham.  On  one  occasion,  he  came  in  company 
with  the  Queen,  to  be  entertained  by  Mr.  George 
Augustus  Selwyn,  at  Matson  ;  and  subsequently  he 
rode  over,  attended  only  by  his  equerries,  to  make 
a  morning  call  on  Bishop  Halifax.  The  customs 
of  the  Court  at  Cheltenham  were  marked  by  great 
simplicity.  Raikes  records  that  King  George  rose 
very  early,  and  was  generally  to  be  seen  on  the 
walks  about  six  o'clock.  After  breakfast,  the  King, 
Queen,  and  Princesses,  were  accustomed  to  make 
excursions  into  the  country,  and  about  six  or  seven 
in  the  evening  they  again  appeared  on  the  public 
walks. 

"The  frequency,"  writes   Raikes,"  with   which 
their  Majesties   have  shown  themselves  upon  the 


Public  Life,  171 


walks  and  in  the  town  has  now,  in  some  degree, 
divested  them  of  the  inconvenience  of  an  attend- 
ant crowd.  Such  is  their  amiable  and  engaging 
demeanour  that  the  idea  of  royalty  seems  to  give 
place  to  the  contemplation  of  pre-eminence  in  those 
virtues  that  constitute  the  happiness  of  private  life." 

Among  the  loyal  subjects  who  during  the  first 
part  of  the  King's  visit  thronged  the  Cheltenham 
walks  to  see  their  monarch  was  Raikes  himself.  A 
few  days  after  her  visit  to  Gloucester,  Miss  Burney 
recognised  him  from  her  place  among  the  royal 
suite,  and  she  thus  records  the  fact : — 

"Mr.  Raikes  and  his  family  were  come  from 
Gloucester  to  see  the  royal  family  on  the  walks, 
which  were  very  crowded,  but  with  the  same 
respectful  multitude,  who  never  came  forward,  but 
gazed  and  admired  at  the  most  humble  distance." 
(July  20th,  1788.) 

Raikes  mentions  several  incidents  of  the  King's 
visit  to  Gloucestershire,  illustrative  of  His  Majesty's 
demeanour  to  his  subjects.  When  asked  what  guards 
should  attend  him  to  Cheltenham,  King  George 
replied,  "  I  shall  take  no  guards.  Can  I  have  better 
guards  than  my  people  ?  " 

While  on  the  promenade  at  Cheltenham  early  one 
morning  the  King  met  a  farmer  in  a  great  heat. 


1/2  Robert  Raikes, 


"  So,  friend,"  said  His  Majesty,  "  you  seem  very 
warm." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  man ;  "  I  have  come  a  lon^ 
way,  for  I  want  to  see  the  King." 

"  Well,  my  friend,"  said  His  Majesty,  putting  half- 
a-gurnea  into  his  hand,  "  here  is  something  to 
refresh  you  after  your  walk." 

"  But  where,  v/orthy  sir,"  asked  the  farmer,  *  can 
I  see  the  King  ?  " 

"Friend,"  replied  the  monarch,  "you  see  him 
now  before  you." 

A  few  days  later,  while  riding  into  Tewkesbury, 
King  George  observed  a  number  of  people  stand- 
ing upon  the  walls  of  a  bridge  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  him.  Considering  the  situation  dangerous,  he 
called  out  to  them, — 

"  My  good  people,  I  am  afraid  that  some  of  you 
may  fall.  Don't  run  such  hazards  to  see  your  King. 
I  will  ride  as  slowly  as  you  please,  that  you  may  all 
see  him." 

Raikes  appears  to  have  always  been  a  loyal 
supporter  of  his  monarch.  At  the  civic  banquets 
which  his  position  required  him  to  attend,  no 
one  honoured  more  heartily  than  he  the  toast  of 
"King  and  Constitution,"  even  when  that  toast 
was  proposed  (as  it  once  was,  by  a  citizen  whose 


Public  Life,  173 


patriotism  was  better  than  his  orthography),  under 
the   style  of  '"the  two  K's."     Soon   after  his  suc- 
cession  to   the   editorial   chair   of  the    Gloucester 
Jotirnal,  we  find  Raikes  advocating  a  scheme  for 
celebrating  the   coronation  of  King   George  III. 
and  Queen  Charlotte  by  giving  marriage  portions 
to    young    women    of  virtuous    characters.     The 
notion  was  heartily  taken  up.     On  Coronation  day 
(September  22nd,  1761),  a  collection  was  made  in 
its  behalf  at   the   Cathedral,    and   realized   £40 ; 
other   donations   swelled    the   amount   to   £110; 
and  the  whole  was  distributed  by  a  committee  of 
ladies  among  eleven  deserving  young  women,  each 
of  whom  received  £5  on  her  wedding  day  and  (wth 
one  exception)  a  second  £$   twelve  months  after 
marriage.      It  is   characteristic  of  the  times  that 
the  committee  found  it  necessary  to  reassure  the 
recipients  of  their  bounty  against  a  needless  alarm 
in  the  follo\\dng  terms  :  "  As  to  the  notion  which 
has   been  spread  all  over  the  country  concerning 
the   children   of  such   marriages,   as   if  the   sons 
would  be  taken  away  to  serve  as  soldiers,  assure 
yourselves   that  this    is   a  very  great  untruth,   in- 
vented by  wicked  persons  who,  not  mlling  to  do 
good  themselves,  are  desirous  of  preventing  any 
good    being    done    by    others.     Your    children, 


1/4  Robert  Raikes. 


whether  sons  or  daughters,  will  be  as  much  the 
free-born  subjects  of  the  realm  as  the  children  of 
the  greatest  person  in  it." 

At  ~  a  later  period  of  King  George's  reign 
(January,  1793),  when  the  French  Revolution  was 
encouraging  the  avowal  of  many  anti-royalist 
doctrines,  we  find  Raikes  joining  with  his  fellow- 
citizens  in  an  address  declaring  their  "  loyalty  and 
attachment  to  their  King,  and  their  veneration  for 
the  British  constitution  as  by  law  established." 
"We  are  determined,"  say  Raikes  and  his  fellows, 
"with  our  lives  and  fortunes  to  maintain  and  de- 
fend this  our  most  excellent  and  envied  constitu- 
tion of  government,  as  consisting  of  King,  Lords, 
and  Commons."  Shortly  afterwards,  England's 
great  struggle  against  the  first  Napoleon  having 
commenced,  the  city  of  Gloucester  sent  ;f  500  to 
London  as  a  contribution  for  the  defence  of  the 
country,  and  all  civic  entertainments  were  sus- 
pended during  the  war.  In  1803,  when  war  was 
resumed  after  the  brief  breathing-time  afforded 
by  the  peace  of  Amiens,  Gloucester  raised  a  sub- 
scription to  equip  a  volunteer  force,  and  Raikes 
was  among  the  contributors.  In  a  very  short  time 
no  less  than  400,000  men  voluntarily  enrolled 
themselves    in    different    parts   of   the  kingdom. 


Public  Life,  175 


The  ladies  of  Gloucestershire  showed  their  sym- 
pathy with  the  troops  serving  abroad  by  sending 
them  flannel  shirts,  made  after  a  pattern  approved 
by  one  of  the  commanding  officers,  and  deposited 
for  general  inspection  at  Raikes'  office.  Raikes  him- 
self took  an  active  part  in  relieving  the  distress 
caused  among  the  poor  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
his  native  city  by  the  high  prices  consequent  upon 
the  long  continuance  of  war.  For  a  period  of 
several  years  during  the  great  anti-Napoleonic 
struggle,  corn  was  so  scarce  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Forest  of  Dean,  a  mining  district  of 
Gloucestershire,  could  hardly  be  prevented,  even 
by  military  force,  from  seizing  the  it^fi  loads  of 
wheat  and  barley  which  they  saw  being  carried 
along  their  highways  and  down  their  rivers  to 
other  parts.  Again  and  again  we  read  of  hungry 
mobs  stopping  wagons  on  the  highroad,  and 
barges  on  the  Severn  and  the  canal,  and  carrying 
off  all  the  corn  with  which  they  were  laden.  To 
alleviate  the  misery  of  which  these  acts  of  vio- 
lence were  the  outcome,  Raikes  devoted  both 
his  purse  and  his  pen.  In  his  newspaper  he 
preached  the  duty  of  the  rich  to  assist  the  poor, 
and  in  his  contributions  he  exemplified  his  pre- 
cepts by  practice.     He  'also   strove  as  much  as 

12 


176  Robert  Raikes, 


possible  to  economise  the  scanty  com  supply  by 
advocating  the  use  of  bean  and  barley  flour  and 
rice  as  substitutes  for  wheat.  Soup  kitchens  and 
plans  for  the  distribution  of  coal  among  the  poor 
were  other  schemes  to  which  he  gave  his  hearty 
co-operation.  For  many  years  he  was  a  warm 
supporter  of  a  charitable  organization,  called  the 
Gloucestershire  Society,  for  apprenticing  poor 
boys  belonging  to  families  in  the  county,  and  for 
relieving  distress  in  the  district  generally. 

Raikes'  opinions  respecting  slavery — an  insti- 
tution which  many  good  people  in  his  day  de- 
fended as  of  Divine  appointment — may  be  deduced 
from  some  of  the  short  paragraphs  which  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  eighteenth  century  took  the 
place  of  leaders.  Writing  in  1 791,  he  praises,  as 
"an  enterprise  of  singular  benevolence,"  a  scheme 
propounded  by  Mr.  Grenville  Sharpe,  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton, and  other  gentlemen  for  the  formation  of  a 
negro  settlement  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  where 
the  natives  might  "  exhibit  the  advantages  of 
cultivating  their  own  soil,  instead  of  employing 
their  lives  in  making  each  other  slaves  to  foreigners." 
From  another  article,  written  in  the  following  year, 
it  may  be  gathered  that  Raikes,  like  most  judicious 
philanthropists  of  his    times,  though  advocating 


Ptthlic  Life.  177 


the  immediate  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  did 
not  recommend  that  slavery  in  the  Colonies  should 
at  once  be  put  an  end  to.  He  saw  that  long- 
continued  degradation  had  rendered  the  slaves 
unfit  for  freedom,  and  that  until  something  was 
done  to  elevate  them  in  the  scale  of  humanity, 
the  gift  of  liberty  would  be  to  them,  not  a  blessing, 
but  a  curse.  No  more  slaves  shall  be  made,  and 
those  already  in  bondage  shall  be  set  ix^^ gradually : 
that  was  Raikes'  creed,  and  in  accordance  with 
that  creed,  some  twenty  years  after  Raikes'  death, 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  British  dominions 
was  ultimately  brought  about. 

The  great  controversy  respecting  Church  and 
State,  now  so  zealously  waged,  had  scarcely  begun 
to  agitate  the  popular  mind  when  Raikes  lived 
and  wrote.  As  to  which  side  his  sympathies  lay 
there  can  be  little  doubt.  He  was  a  conscientious 
Churchman,  firm  in  the  maintenance  of  his  own 
principles,  and  liberal  towards  those  who  differed 
from  him.  While  admitting  that  the  Established 
Church  was  imperfect,  he  desired  to  see  its 
blemishes  removed  by  some  less  extreme  process 
than  what  he  deemed  to  be  the  uncertain  remedy 
of  separation  from  the  State.  The  following  notice, 
addressed   by  him  in  1795   to  a  correspondent, 


178  Robert  Raikes. 


whose  letter  he  declined  to  publish,  may  perhaps 
be  regarded  as  indicative  of  his  views  on  this 
question : — 

"Our  correspondeilt  will  excuse  us  subjoining 
the  reflection  which  experience  is  frequently 
forcing  upon  us — namely,  that  defects  are  in- 
separable from  every  human  system.  Whilst  an 
establishment  has  so  much  excellence  as  in  the 
instance  alluded  to,  and  continues  to  receive  the 
sanction  of  the  community,  its  imperfections  must 
be  regarded  with  some  delicacy  of  regard  by  the 
editor  of  a  public  papei;," 

Raikes'  liberality  of  sentiment  towards  other 
religious  bodies  is  evident  from  the  friendly  way 
in  which  he  speaks  of  Nonconformists  generally, 
and  especially  of  Metlu)dists  and  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends. 

Whatever  he  might  have  done  had  he  been 
simply  a  private  citizen,  Raikes  as  a  journalist 
found  it  was  one  of  the  duties  of  his  position  to 
notice  such  dramatic  performances  as  took  place 
at  intervals  in  Gloucester.  His  views  on  the 
subject  of  the  drama  and  popular  amusements 
generally  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
notice  written  by  him-  to  a  correspondent  whose 


Fuhlic  Life,  17.9 


notions  were  evidently  ijxore  strict  than  Mr. 
Raikes'  :— 

"Our  pious  correspondent,  when  he  would 
admonish  the  printer,  and  censure  theatrical 
amusements,  should  preserve  some  bounds  in  his 
enthusiastic  zeal  for  good  morals,  and  not  betray 
such  melancholy  ignorance  of  the  true  spirit  of  our 
religion  as  to  act  in  opposition  to  its  fundamental 
principle,  charity.  If  he  will  quote  Scripture,  let 
him  do  it  impartially,  and  then  he  will  find  enough 
to  deter  him  from  so  groSs  an  attack  upon  the 

*  higher  powers '  by  whose  laws  these  amusements 
are  allowed,  and  upon  those  magistrates  who  give 
their  sanction  to  a  temperate  indulgence  in  them. 
A  plainer  precept  cannot  be  found  in  Scripture  than 

*  Judge  not,'  which  our  correspondent,  with  too 
gloomy  a  mind,  having  entirely  forgotten,  proceeds 
mth  presumptuous  temerity  to  pass  sentence." 

The  following  curious  announcement,  published 
in  Raikes'  newspaper  on  May  2nd,  1785,  proves 
that,  while  deprecating  uncharitable  strictures  on 
dramatic  performances,  he  was  too  prudent  to 
sanction  any  connection  between  his  Sunday-school 
scheme  and  associations  which  many  good  people 
would  deem  unfit : — 


i8o  Robert  Raikes. 


"  The  printer  having  received  a  letter  requesting 
to  know  the  reason  why  the  produce  of  the  play 
lately  performed  in  this  city  for  the  benefit  of 
Sunday-schools,  has  not  yet  been  publicly  a@- 
knowledged,  acquaints  the  writer  that  he  had  no 
concern  in  the  scheme,  and  the  persons  engaged 
in  the  performance  have  never  communicated  to 
him  any  particulars  on  the  subject'* 


CHAPTER    IX. 

CLOSING  SCENES. 

•'  Such  graves  as  his  are  pilgrim  shrines, 
Shrines  to  no  code  or  creed  confined." 

— Halleck. 

RELINQUISHING  the  cares  of  business  and 
professional  life  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven, 
Robert  Raikes  retired  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
his  days  in  well-earned  repose.  Though  he  had 
ever  been  too  benevolent  to  accumulate  riches  as 
some  men  in  his  position  would  have  done,  he  had 
secured  by  nearly  half  a  century  of  industry  a  com- 
petency amply  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  his  old 
age.  From  the  Gloucester  Journal,  after  his  re- 
tirement from  its  proprietorship,  he  received  an 
annuity  of  ;^3oo ;  and  he  was  the  owner  of  two 
small  freehold  estates  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his 
native  city,  at  Saintbridge  and  Matson.  As  was 
natural  to  a  man  verging  on  threescore  and  ten,  he 
seems  to  have  felt  that  his  time  was  come  for  rest ; 


1^2  Robert  Raikes, 


and  hence,  while  retaining  to  the  last  the  liveliest 
interest  in  all  philanthropic  schemes,  he  resigned  to 
younger  men  the  honour  of  assisting  them  by  per- 
sonal labour.  Tended  by  a  loving  wife,  and  sur- 
rounded by  an  affectionate  family,  he  peacefully 
descended  the  hill  of  Hfe.  From  incidental  touches 
in  some  of  his  letters  it  is  evident  that  the  affections 
of  home  occupied  a  large  place  in  his  heart ;  and 
he  found  one  of  the  greatest  comforts  of  his  declin- 
ing years  in  the  society  of  his  children.  In  a  letter 
to  a  friend,  as  early  as  1787,  he  speaks  of  them  as 
"  six  excellent  girls  and  two  lovely  boys ; "  and  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  his  opinion  of  them 
deteriorated  as  they  advanced  in  years.  The  eldest 
boy  was  named  Robert  Napier,  and  was  born  on 
the  very  day  that  the  Sunday-school  scheme  was 
first  promulgated  in  the  columns  of  the  Gloucestet 
Journal  (Nov.  3rd,  1783).  He  was  trained  for  the 
Church,  and  adorned  his  sacred  caUing  by  an 
exemplary  life.  William  Henley,  the  second  son, 
adopted  the  profession  of  arms,"  and  became  a 
colonel  in  the  Guards.  The  names  of  the  daugh 
ters  were  Anne,  Mary,  Albinia,  Eleanor,  Martha, 
Charlotte,  and  Caroline.  One  of  them  was  married 
to  Sir  Thomas  Thomson,  and  another  to  Captain 
James    Sedbrooke.      The  scene  of   Mr.   Raikes' 


Closing  Scenes,  1S3 


death  appears  to  have  been  a  house  in  the  city 
of  Gloucester,  situated  in  Bell-lane,  where  he  took 
up  his  residence  after  his  retirement  from  active 
life.  For  some  time  before  his  decease  he  found 
his  health  declining;  but  despite  this  warning, 
the  end,  when  it  came,  came  suddenly.  Some 
five-and-twenty  years  before,  when  narrating  in  his 
newspaper  several  unexpected  deaths,  he  had  urged 
his  readers  to  reflect  on  the  precariousness  of  human 
life;  and  now  he  was  about  to  teach  the  same 
lesson  in  a  still  more  forcible  way.  So  unlooked- 
for  was  his  death  that  on  the  previous  day  he  was 
measured  by  a  tailor  for  a  new  black  silk  waistcoat, 
and  on  the  very  day  of  his  decease  his  brother  was 
to  have  dined  ^^ith  him.  Towards  evening,  on  the 
5th  of  April,  181 1,  he  experienced  an  oppression  in 
his  chest ;  a  physician,  who  was  immediately  sum- 
moned, declared  his  case  hopeless ;  and  in  less 
than  an  hour  he  was  a  corpse.  Thus  died,  in  the 
seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age,  a  man  whom  all  suc- 
ceeding generations  ^vill  delight  to  honour.  In  the 
Gloucester  Journal — the  paper  he  had  owned  and 
edited  so  long — there  appeared  a  few  days  later  the 
following  simple  obituary  notice  : — 

"  On  Friday  evening  last,  died  suddenly,  at  his 
house  in  this  city,  Robert  Raikes,  Esq.,  aged  75 ; 


1 84  Robert  Raikes, 


who,  in  the  year  1783,  first  instituted  Sunday- 
schools,  and  by  his  philanthropic  exertions  con- 
tributed to  the  adoption  of  them  in  different  parts 
of  the  kingdom." 

Thus  summarily  was  epitomised  the  life-long 
work  that  had  been  and  was  to  be  so  potent  for 
good.  The  family  vault  in  St.  Mary  de  Crypt 
church,  where  some  sixty  years  before  his  father's 
ashes  had  been  laid,  received  in  due  course  the 
mortal  remains  of  Robert  Raikes.  Mindful  of  his 
work  to  the  last,  he  had  left  instructions  that  his 
Sunday-school  children  should  follow  him  to  the 
grave,  and  that  each  of  them  should  receive  a 
shilling  and  a  plum  cake;  and  these  instructions 
were  duly  carried  out.  By  his  will  he  left  the 
whole  of  his  property  to  his  widow,  who  survived 
him  seventeen  years,  and  died  in  1828,  at  the  age 
of  85.  An  obituary  notice  in  the  Gloucester 
Journal  speaks  of  her  as  "  a  lady  of  a  pious  and 
benevolent  disposition,  with  an  active  and  well- 
cultivated  mind,  and  a  heart  open  as  day  to  melt- 
ing charity."  In  case  she  had  died  before  her 
husband,  his  will  directed  that  his  property  should 
be  divided  between  his  child-ren  in  equal  propor- 
tions. A  plain  tablet  near  his  grave  bears  the 
following  inscription : — 


Closing  Scenes.  185 


"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  ROBERT  RAIKES, 
Esq.  (late  of  this  city),  Founder  of  Sunday-schools, 
who  departed  this  life  April  5th,  18 11,  aged  75 
years. 

"  *  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me ; 
and  when  the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave  witness  to  me  : 
because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the 
fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 
The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me  :  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing 
for  joy.' — Job  xxix.  11,  12,  13. 

"Also  ANNE  RAIKES,  relict  of  the  above 
ROBERT,  who  died  March  9th,  1828,  aged  85  years. 

"  '  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin.' — i  John  i.  7. 

"  *  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other :  for 
there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given 
among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved.' — 
Acts  iv.  12." 

On  the  marble  monument  erected  in  the  same 
church  to  the  memory  of  his  parents  there  is  also 
an  inscription  respecting  Robert  Raikes.  It  is  in 
Latin,  as  follows  : — 


1 86  Robert  Raikes, 


"  ROBERTI  etiam  horum  Filii  natu  maximi 

Qui  Scholis  Sabbaticis 

Hie  primum  a  se  institutis, 

Necnon  apud  alios 

Felici  opera  studioque  suo  commendatis, 

Obiit  die  Apr  :  5to, 

.          CSalutis,  i8ii, 

^^^°|^tatisSu^,75.'' 

The  following  is  a  translation  : — 

"  Also  of  ROBERT,  their  eldest  Son,  by  whom 

Sabbath-schools  were  first  instituted  in  this  place, 

and  were  also  by  his   successful    exertions  and 

assiduity  recommended  to   others.     He  died  on 

the  5  th  day  of  April, 

,     ,  (Of  our  salvation,  i8i I, 

In  the  year  ^ 

'       t.  Of  his  age,  75." 

In  a  portrait  which  has  been  preserved,  Mr. 
Raikes  appears  as  rather  tall,  somewhat  portly,  of 
fair  complexion,  and  most  benevolent  expression  of 
countenance.  He  is  dressed  after  the  fashion  of 
the  day,  in  ^  blue  coat,  buff  waistcoat,  drab  ker- 
seymere breeches,  white  stockings,  and  low  shoes. 

It  would  be  easy  to  write  glowing  eulogies  of 
Raikes'  character.  Even  in  his  own  day  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Glasse,  speaking  of  him  as  "the  founder  of 
Sunday-schools,"  could  say :     "  The  outlines  of  a 


Closing  Scenes.  18/ 


character  so  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  his 
country  as  that  of  Mr.  Raikes  cannot  fail  to 
engage  the  attention  of  the  reader.  In  propor- 
tion as  he  feels  himself  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
mankind,  he  will  interest  himself  in  every  particular 
which  concerns  this  bright  example  of  unbounded 
philanthropy."  But  in  point  of  fact  eulogiums  are 
unnecessary.  The  man's  life  and  labours  speak 
for  themselves.  With  the  aid  of  such  self-revela- 
tions as  are  to  be  found  in  his  letters  we  can  see 
him  as  a  simple-hearted  Christian,  sincerely  desirous 
to  glorify  God  by  benefiting  his  fellow-men.  This 
was  the  object  of  his  Ufe ;  and  he  achieved  it 
simply  by  a  conscientious  discharge  of  daily  duty. 
As  the  varying  circumstances  of  the  hour  pointed 
out  to  him  new  means  of  doing  good,  he  at  once 
availed  himself  of  them.  Both  in  letter  and  in 
spirit  he  seems  to  have  realized  the  Apostle's  ideal, 
"  Diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the 
Lord."  It  was  while  industriously  pursuing  his 
vocation  that  he  saw  the  evils  which  then  cursed 
society;  and  he  availed  himself  of  every  oppor- 
tunity, both  in  a  private  and  professional  capacity, 
to  apply  the  remedy.  At  first  he  had  but  a  faint 
conception  of  the  greatness  of  his  work.  When 
he  gathered  his  first  group  of  ragged  children  for 


1 88  Robert  Raikes. 


Sunday  instruction,  to  none  would  it  seem  more 
unlikely  than  to  him  that  he  was  starting  a  move- 
ment which  to  the  end  of  time  would  never  cease 
to  benefit  mankind.     He   himself  spoke  of  it  as 
"an  experiment,  harmless  and  innocent,  however 
fruitless  it  might  prove  in  its  effects."     He  tried 
the  experiment  because  surrounding  circumstances 
suggested  it  as  a  possible  means  of  remedying  the 
evils  he    lamented;    and  when    the    experiment 
proved    wondrously  successful,    he   followed   still 
further  the   plain  leadings  of  duty  by  making  it 
known  as  widely  as  he  could.     The  way  in  which 
his    work    progressed  step   by  step   proves    that 
he  was  one  of  those  unpretending  benefactors  to 
the  world  who  waste   no   time   in  longing  after 
impossible  opportunities   for   unheard-of   exploits, 
but  simply  do  with  all  their  might  the  work  which 
lies -nearest  to  them.     Two  other  features   in  his 
character  stand  prominently  out  among  a  host  of 
minor  excellences — his  affection  for  children  and 
his  love  for  the  Word  of  God.     Doubtless  he  had 
his  failings,  as  have  other  men,  but  whatever  they 
were,  a  grateful  posterity  may  well  afford  to  over- 
look them.      For  the  sake  of  the  good  seed  he 
planted — now  become  a  great  tree,  whose  leaves 
are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations — his  name  will 


Closing  Scenes,  189 


be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  Every 
Sunday-school  is  a  monument  to  his  fame,  every 
teacher  and  scholar  a  celebration  of  his  work. 
And  who  can  tell  the  countless  memorials, 
unmarked  by  human  observation,  but  carefully 
recorded  in  the  chronicles  of  Heaven,  of  minds 
enlightened,  homes  reformed,  and  lives  ennobled 
by  means  of  the  work  which  Robert  Raikes 
began?  In  a  higher  than  earthly  sense  his  life 
and  labours  are  one  more  illustration  in  proof 
of  Tennyson's  couplet, — 

"  Not  once  or  twice  in  our  rough  island  story 
The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory." 


FINISi 


Hazell,  Watson,  and  Viney,  Printers,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


(?v^ 


,1 


DATE  DUE 

|(»f*-.- 

^^•iiiiimiw  _  , 

rijia  T  1  *^'- 

'    '          '""<;,■■ 

IRKftSiW^ 

ilQI^S^^R 

(* 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  USA. 

